Pennridge advanced to Thursday’s District One AAAA title game while CR North and North Penn will battle for third place. Springfield (Montco) saw its season end. To view photos of the Pennridge/North Penn game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
There was never a blink of an eye in the glare of the PIAA District One Quad-A semifinal game spotlight by either Pennridge sophomore Danny Shane or fellow Ram sophomore David Tatoian. The pair of youngsters played key roles in the Rams 4-3 victory over SOL Continental rival North Penn. The playoff win – which came on a sunny day at the Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth – will send Pennridge into Thursday’s district final against Coatesville. The Red Raiders advanced to the title game with a 3-2 win in eight innings over Council Rock North.
“We had three freshman start for us last season – Danny, David, and Joe (Unangst),” said Pennridge head coach Tom Nuneviller. “We lost some very close games with them last year, but this year we are stepping up and winning those games. They play the game with a lot of confidence for young players, and they learned some tough lessons last year when we didn’t make the playoffs.”
One of those lessons learned must have been how to pitch out of a bases loaded situation with no outs. Tatoian did just that in the fifth inning when he came into the game in relief of Trevor Dalton with the game tied at 3-3 and a runner on first base with no outs. Tatoian promptly gave up a single to NP’s Chris Kersey and walked Jared Melone to load the sacks with nobody out.
No pressure – no problem.
Tatoian coaxed a fielder’s choice groundout at the plate and then struck out the next two Knight hitters to keep the score knotted at 3-3.
“It took me a couple of batters to find my groove,” said the confident Tatoian. “At that point of the game I really wasn’t feeling pressure – it was just an exciting part of the game.”
“We had our opportunities to win the game,” said North Penn head coach Kevin Manero. “And that was obviously one of them. We needed to make things happen, and we didn’t come up with enough big plays.”
Shane – who tripled in the first inning to lead off the game for the Rams and scored on a ground out by Tatoian – made his big play happen offensively in the Pennridge half of the sixth inning. And like the Knights, the Rams had the bases loaded with no outs and the score deadlocked at 3-3.
AJ Molettiere led off the inning with a ringing single to right field to fuel the rally – Jake Gordon and Tyler Schoultes followed with singles to load the bases. North Penn relieved starter Brian Maher with Dylan Borawski, and Borawski got a fielder’s choice groundout at the plate for the first out and recorded a pop out to first base for the second out.
Shane, though, would not become out number three as the diminutive centerfielder ripped a single up the middle to score Gordon with what proved to be the winning run.
“Coach Nuneviller and I talked about how they were pitching me inside, so I decided to move back in the box during that at-bat,” said Shane. “I came up to bat with a lot of confidence, and I got a pitch that I could handle.”
“When I was a player, I thought I knew everything there was to know about hitting and didn’t take too much advice,” smiled Nuneviller. “I’m glad that Danny can listen to me.”
North Penn took a 3-1 lead in the third inning when Brady West (single), Brad Bertucci (single), and Eddie Posavec (single) all came around to score. The big hit in the inning for the Knights was a two-run double off the bat of Melone.
Pennridge scratched out a pair of runs in the fourth inning to tie the game. Schoultes – who was the Ram DH – plated a pair of runs with a critical single.
The win will send Pennridge to the PIAA Quad-A District Final Thursday at 4 pm at Immaculata College, and the Rams should be able to send ace Evan Myers to the mound. Myers won a pair of playoff games last week over Great Valley (7-3) and Boyertown (4-1).
“When I went through playing for a district title, we just knew that it was great because we got out of school early to go play baseball,” said Nuneviller – part of the 1987 PIAA state champion Pennridge baseball team. “These kids, with the internet and all, know all about the teams we are going to play.”
North Penn, by the way, also still has games to play. The Knights will face CR North today to determine who the #3 and #4 seed is going to be from District One.
“Sure this is a tough loss, but we will just hit the reset button,” said Manero. “We gave played our best baseball the last two weeks, and I’m sure we can come back and gain that swagger.”
It is a swagger that a pair of Ram sophomores showcased prominently in the key Pennridge victory.
North Penn Knights 003 000 0 - 3 6 1
Pennridge Rams 100 201 x - 4 11 3
WP- David Tatoian LP- Brian Maher
2B- Jared Malone (NP), Joe Unganst (P). 3B- Danny Shane (P)
[S-4] COATESVILLE 3, [N-7] COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2 (8 innings)
The Indians found themselves locked in another extra-inning thriller on Wednesday – their third extra inning game in four so far in the tournament, but this time they came up just short. The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning with Max German delivering the big blow – a two-run double. Coatesville tied the game in the sixth on a two-run home run by Jake Kennedy. The Red Raiders scored the winning run with two outs in the eighth.
Matt Renck, who threw well enough to win on most days, allowed just five hits while fanning nine.
Rock North will host North Penn in a third place game on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Council Rock North 000 020 00 2-6-1
Coatesville 000 002 01 3-5-1
NEUMANN GORETTI 4, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 3 (Photo gallery coming soon!)
With a bid at states at stake, the Spartans came up just short against the PCL champions. Neumann Goretti plated three runs in the first inning but then managed just one the rest of the way off Spartan ace Anthony Scafidi. The Spartans scored a single run in the fourth and two more in the sixth but couldn’t push the tying run across. Scafidi and Brian Quigg each had two hits to lead the Spartans.
Neumann Goretti301 000 0 4-7
Springfield 000 102 0 3-7
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