Souderton earned the final berth in states with a mercy rule win over Garnet Valley in a District 1 6A playback game Friday.
Class 6A Playback Game – Fifth Place
#1-3 SOUDERTON 15, #1-2 GARNET VALLEY 1 (5 innings)
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH – Luke Taylor could have given in. It would have been hard to blame the senior hurler if he had during a seemingly unending 11-pitch at-bat for Garnet Valley’s Jake Troutner that included nine foul balls.
Adding to the drama in the second inning of a scoreless ball game was the fact that the bases were loaded with only one out, and that came when Taylor fanned the preceding batter – Braydon Morandini. With each pitch Troutner fought off, the cheers of the Garnet Valley faithful grew louder, but those cheers were silenced when Taylor – refusing to give in – retired Troutner on a harmless popup to second baseman Hogan Despain.
“That was crazy,” Taylor said. “It was getting annoying. (You) just keep trying to pound the strike zone and hope eventually to get him out.
“That was a relief to finally get him out. It was getting tiring that inning. I threw a lot of pitches.”
Taylor wasn’t quite out of the woods, but he needed only four pitches to get a strikeout for the inning’s final out.
Looking for a turning point? This was it.
“It was big to get out of that,” Taylor said. “It definitely gave me momentum for the rest of the game. To get out of that was huge.
“I struggled in the beginning today – I was leaving pitches up. I wasn’t really hitting my spots. I didn’t feel my greatest. I don’t think it was my best performance, but when I was able to get out of that inning, it helped me out, and then we put up runs – it was kind of a breeze from there.”
“That was definitely the turning point of the game,” junior Conlan Wall said. “Luke stayed mentally strong like he has all year and was able to get out of it.”
Taylor went on to earn the complete game win in the abbreviated contest, and the Indians – who found their offense after scoring only seven runs in their three previous district games combined – had earned the district’s fifth and final state tournament berth.
“Without a doubt, this is a special group,” coach Mike Childs said. “That loss to PW (in the district quarterfinals) was tough because that was a guarantee, but we talked about it at practice – are we going to roll over and die and just go through the motions or do we want to fight for this.
“Every single one of them at practice said – ‘We’re going to fight for this, coach. We want to get there, we want to see what we can do while we’re there.’ They stepped up and showed it today.”
In a winning effort, Taylor – who threw 92 pitches – allowed six hits and one run (that came in the final inning), striking out two and walking two.
“Luke’s been doing that for us all year,” Childs said. “He’s been stepping up. We had some misplays with the bunt coverage, but Luke steps up and he turns it into another gear. He locks in, and his fastball looks that much better when his curveball is thrown for strikes.
“I talked about it after they came in the huddle. I said, ‘Take the momentum of that bases-loaded, nobody out, and take it to the plate.’”
The Indians did just that, putting a run on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Despain collected a one-out single, and he scored when Wall ripped a double to the fence in deep left.
A walk and single put a pair of Garnet Valley runners on board to lead off the bottom of the inning. A popup and double play brought an end to that threat.
In the fourth, the Indians plated five runs to all but put the game out of reach. Jake Horton was safe on an error to open the frame, and Moses Clemens drew a walk. Dylan Kummery legged out a perfectly placed bunt in front of the plate for a single that loaded the bases. Horton was retired at the plate on a grounder to short, but Bill Norbeck drew a bases-loaded walk, pushing a run across to put the Indians on top 2-0. Despain’s single over second plated a pair, and the Indians led 4-0.
“It was an 0-2 count with the bases loaded – I’m just trying to put it in play at that point, and good things will happen,” Despain said.
Another run scored on a wild pitch, and Taylor’s RBI single made it a 6-0 game. The fun was just starting for the Indians who erupted for nine runs in the seventh. Contributing singles were Horton, Kummery (RBI), Wall (2 RBIs) and Taylor (RBI) as well as pinch hitters Joey Santone (RBI) and Dan Pineda (2 RBIs).
All told, the Indians collected 12 hits off of four Garnet Valley pitchers.
“I told them after the last game (a 2-1 win over Methacton), ‘Before you give me a heart attack, we need to start battling and get some more runs,’” Childs said. “Talk about runs – they stepped up.”
Taylor helped his own cause with a 3-for-4 effort that included two RBIs and a run scored. Wall was 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot with a double, three RBIs and a run scored. Kummery was 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs, and Despain was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and three runs.
“The team’s rolling,” Despain said. “In the beginning of the year, I was hitting great, and then I was in a little slump.
“On the weeknights, our team goes and hits at the cages, and I was working on it. No better time than now to get hot.”
Childs tipped his hat to Despain and senior Bill Norbeck, both of whom have had designated hitters over the course of the regular season.
“Billy got on base when we needed him to – drew the walk that scored a run,” Childs said. “They’re senior captains, they’ve been here. They know what it’s like, they wanted the opportunity, we gave it to them, and they’re stepping up.
“That’s the nice thing about having 14 seniors. You have leaders on the bench, you have leaders on the field. You have kids that have been there. They want to step up and show what they got before they graduate.”
The Indians, who had their collective backs against the wall after falling to PW in the quarterfinals, are in the state tournament for the first time since 2007.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Despain said. “It’s what I’ve been looking forward to for a while. I feel like our team’s rolling.”
“When we lost to PW, we knew it was going to be two tough games against two good teams,” Wall said. “We came out with a chip on our shoulders, and we were able to pull through the first game against a good team (2-1 over Methacton). Today our offense just exploded. Before that, we were averaging one run every three innings – we doubled or tripled the runs we scored in the playoffs today.
“This is such a relief. It feels like it’s a whole new start. We’re ready to go and keep it going.”
Souderton (20-4, 12-0 SOL) will face District 12 champion La Salle in Monday’s PIAA 6A opening round at Archbishop Wood (4 p.m.).
Souderton 001 59 15-12-1
Garnet Valley 000 01 1-6-1
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