Springfield, North Penn and CR North were winners in district tournament action Friday.
CLASS AA
#3 Springfield Township 8, #2 New Hope-Solebury 1
Julian Salzer had never thrown a no-hitter at any level in his career, but there was no mistaking that the Spartans’ senior right hander was on track to get his first on Friday.
“Unfortunately, Methacton had this big scoreboard in center field, and going out to the mound I saw it,” Salzer said. “In the seventh, I was a little nervous because I knew I was only three outs away.
“No one said anything, thank god, but I knew in the back of my mind.”
While he may have been nervous, Salzer didn’t let it show, retiring the Lions in order in the bottom of the seventh to notch his career first no-hitter.
“It was a cool feeling,” he said, “I’ve always kind of wanted to have a no-hitter. I’ve been kind of close sometimes.
“I had a lot of first pitch strikes on my fastball – my fastball was on command today. I was getting ahead in the count, which always helps. My change-up was really working today. It’s been pretty good all year, so I have a lot of confidence in that pitch. When I got ahead in the count, I was just mixing things up. Getting ahead in the count was the biggest thing for me today.”
To say Salzer was in command would be an understatement. He fanned eight and walked none and needed just 59 pitches to earn the seven-inning no-hitter.
“There were a lot of three-swing strikeouts,” coach Dennis Primavera said. “Towards the end, they were swinging at the first pitch, so he had a little luck going, but he was throwing strikes.
“Our kids in the infield – most of them are underclassmen, and they played excellent defense today. Julian throws a lot of ground balls, and I can only remember one ball to the outfield. Our kids are playing together, playing well, and when you have someone like Julian out there, it’s hard to lose.”
Salzer also was quick to credit his defense.
(Chris) Binet had an unbelievable play at shortstop on a hard line drive that he jumped up and caught,” he said. “(Jack) Cornely was amazing at third base – he made a bunch of plays.
“All year we’ve had some struggles with defense, and today was just flawless. I’m really proud of my team. We have a young team, and it was just a really great showing from all of us.”
In the fifth, the Lions broke up Salzer’s shutout bid, capitalizing on a two-base error – the Spartans’ only error of the game – as well as a pair of groundouts to put a run on the board.
The Spartans, meanwhile, scored single runs in both the first and second innings and went on top 4-0 after a two-run third. The Lions never threatened.
“We have a lot of seniors on this team,” Salzer said. “It’s at a point now where every game could be our last.
“I’m not playing ball in college or anything, so we’re all playing like it’s our last game.”
Leading the Spartans at the plate was sophomore Will Jamison, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Binet was 1-for-3 with a double two RBIs.
“They were the two leaders, but everybody had a hand in it,” Primavera said. “This gives everybody a boost. When you have Julian throwing, you feed off of that, and that’s what was happening with our infielders.
“We kicked the ball around early on (this season), but everything now is coming together with our defense and offense. When you see a kid throwing strikes and you see the ground balls coming, and our underclassmen are making the plays, it picks up Julian, and he wants to throw strikes.
“It goes back to our shortstop, Binet, making a few great plays. It just goes back and forth, and that’s how you’re supposed to play the game.”
Springfield (10-8, 6-8 SOL) will face top-seeded Devon Prep in Tuesday’s district title game at Glen Mills.
Springfield 112 004 1 8-6-1
New Hope-Solebury 000 010 0 1-0-3
CLASS AAAA
#4 North Penn 14, #5 Boyertown 6
The Knights took the suspense out of Friday’s quarterfinal contest early, plating nine runs in the first two innings. By the time it was over, North Penn had put 14 runs on the board, benefitting from 15 hits as well as four Boyertown errors to earn the no-doubt-about-it win.
“Boyertown scored a first inning run with a leadoff single and a bunt, and we didn’t get an out on the bunt – we threw the ball away,” coach Kevin Manero said. “I told the guys – ‘You can’t do that against Boyertown. You can’t give them outs, you can’t give them runs.’
“We responded right away by scoring five runs in the first inning, so we erased that deficit very quickly. For the first time all year, we just let the bats take over. It wasn’t our best game on the defensive side of the ball, but it was definitely the best offensive attack we’ve had all year.”
The Knights sent nine men to the plate in the first inning with Jared Melone delivering the big blow – a two-run single. It marked the beginning of a productive day at the plate for Melone, who finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs. After the Bears rallied to make it a 10-6 game, it was Melone delivering a two-run home run in the fifth inning to increase the Knights’ lead to 12-6.
“We didn’t do a very good job of shutting them down today – we would score and they would score and we would score,” Manero said. “It was kind of back and forth for a little while, but Melone’s two-run home run late in the game kind of separated us a little bit.”
Melone – who bats out of the four hole – wasn’t the only Knight to have a big day at the plate. Leadoff batter Mike Christy was 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored, and Mason Nadeau was 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Alex Peterson was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored as the top four batters combined for 12 hits, six RBIs and 10 runs scored. Anthony Cameron was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
“We’re swinging the bat well right now,” Manero said. “I feel really good about our ability to score runs.
“I always tell our guys – our offense is going to go up and down depending on the pitching we face. You just have to play good defense and you have to get people out to give yourself a chance to win.
“On a day like today when you do go out and score five off the bat, you kind of feel like – okay, this is one of those days where we might make a mistake or two, but it’s not going to cost us today because we’re going to score. That’s what we did. We didn’t stop scoring. We kept tacking them on.”
The win guaranteed the Knights a coveted spot in the state tournament.
“When you go into the season, you expect to be a playoff team,” Manero said. “That’s the first thing you look at – if we have a good year, we’re going to the playoffs.
“I don’t think we can look beyond that because it’s so much one game at a time when you get to that point, but once you get into districts, you look ahead and you say – ‘We want to win the district title,’ but the most important game is the Friday game because that locks you up a state berth. Now we’re guaranteed a spot in that tournament, and once you get in there, anything can happen, but you have to get in first. Today was as big as it gets because now we’ll keep playing for a district title next week, but regardless, we have an opportunity to do some really good things at the next level. It’s a win that gave us that opportunity.”
North Penn (17-3, 12-2 SOL) will face 17th-seeded West Chester East in a district semifinal game Tuesday at Spring-Ford High School (4 p.m.).
Boyertown 110 310 0 6-8-4
North Penn 541 022 x 14-15-5
#15 Council Rock North 12, #10 Conestoga 1 (5 innings)
Brandon McIlwain was a one-man wrecking crew.
The junior standout belted a pair of home runs, driving in three runs and scoring three more. If that wasn’t enough, he also earned the win on the mound, limiting the Pioneers to five hits while walking two and fanning two in the abbreviated contest.
“He hasn’t thrown in probably 10 days, but we have three games this week, and we had three different pitchers,” coach Matt Schram said. “He matched the performances of the other two guys (Matt Hand and Noah Hartwell).
“I don’t know what his pitch count was, but it was probably under 80. He had great command, and his cutter was his best pitch. He threw that at will, and he kept the ball down today, which was enormous. He kept the ball down in the zone, our defense did a nice job behind him.
It was McIlwain setting the tone for the no-doubt-about-it win with a solo inside-the-park home run to lead off the top of the first.
“Brandon was on high octane today,” Schram said. “Once he hit that home run, you could just kind of tell – he didn’t need to have anybody else around him the rest of the day. He could have done this whole thing by himself.
“He was on fire – from offense to base running and on the mound.”
By the time the Indians were retired in the top of the first, they led 4-0. They added two more in the second to go on top 6-0. In the bottom of the second, the Pioneers broke up McIlwain’s shutout bid – and also the Indians’ scoreless streak in the postseason – with a single run.
McIlwain’s second home run – a two-run shot – highlighted a six-run fourth inning.
“At Conestoga, they have a left field fence that’s probably 320 feet away, and behind their plastic fence is a regular fence probably 30 feet past that fence and then trees that lead into someone’s backyard,” Schram said. “He hit this one over those trees into that backyard. He hit a blast – it was a bomb.
“That was fun because the wind was swirling, and we said no balls would come close to going over anyone’s head. When he hit it, you just had to start laughing – oh my god, I can’t believe how far he hit it. The wind was blowing in, so it didn’t get any jet stream. It cut through the wind.”
Seth Leuz also had a big day at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Cole Hofmann contributed a hit, two RBIs and a run scored, and Noah Hartwell drove in a pair of runs. Cole German added a double.
The win vaulted the Indians into Tuesday’s semifinal where they will face Owen J Roberts, and while some may be surprised by the Indians’ postseason run, Schram is not in that number.
“We have a lot of talent back from last year,” he said. “We have a lot of juniors playing with some of these seniors. We’ve always struggled offensively, even through last year, and then we started this year struggling offensively.
“Even two-and-a-half weeks ago when we lost at Abington (3-2), we sat down, and I told the guys, ‘We’re changing our hitting approach at the plate – a lot more patient, see more pitches.’ Since then, we’ve added the offense, which is making us very dangerous.
“We’ve always run the bases, our defense has been flawless, and our pitching has been great all year long. Am I surprised that we’re here doing this? I’ve kind of envisioned this, but also, everything has to happen at the same time. You have to be clicking on all cylinders and all those phrases you use when you’re playing this game – it’s happening right now. This team is very confident. Even during warm-ups, you could tell – it was like, ‘Who’s next?’ There’s a strong continuity between these guys. We have 26 guys – we called up a bunch of jayvee kids, and they’re all just loving it, they’re loving each other.”
Friday’s win also guaranteed Rock North (13-7, 10-4 SOL) a berth in the state tournament.
“That’s the big part about today’s win,” Schram said. “I told the guys today – you’re guaranteed at least three more games, and there are only six more games in the year.
“I have always said this – the hottest team right now usually takes it to the last game of the season. There are a lot of hot teams, but we’re feeling pretty confident.”
The Indians (13-7, 10-4 SOL) will take on 11th-seeded Owen J Roberts in a district semifinal game on Tuesday.
Council Rock North 420 60 12-8-1
Conestoga 010 00 1-5-4
#11 Owen J Roberts 3, #3 Pennsbury 1
The Wildcats capitalized on some rare shaky defensive play by the Falcons to plate three runs in the fifth inning. It was more than enough to earn a win in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
The Falcons (17-5, 12-2 SOL) will face 10th-seeded Conestoga on Tuesday as four teams vie for the fifth and final playoff berth.
Owen J Roberts 000 030 0 3
Pennsbury 000 000 1 1
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