North Penn advanced to Monday’s PIAA 6A semifinal round with a decisive win over Neshaminy. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District One 6A quarterfinal
#1-4 North Penn 9, #1-1 Neshaminy 0
Dylan Brown’s approach when he takes the mound is not all that complicated.
“I go into every game thinking I’m going to throw the complete game, but today I just really was focusing on taking a deep breath and relaxing before every single pitch and just making sure that whatever I throw was going to be the best that I can do,” Brown said.
Brown’s best was easily good enough in Thursday’s state quarterfinal contest against the district champion Redskins. He needed just 93 pitches to earn the complete game shutout. He scattered seven hits while striking out six and walking two.
“Dylan was great today,” NP coach Kevin Manero said. “In this postseason, he’s been outstanding. I think now that the pressure is off of him and it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m part of something much bigger than just me,’ I feel like he’s going out there, putting the team on his shoulders and he’s doing his job.
“He’s working both sides of the plate, he’s throwing three pitches for strikes, and he’s got some good life on his ball, so he’s really been outstanding. Today he went wire to wire, looked great and was everything we needed him to be.”
Committed to continue his baseball career at the University of Notre Dame, Brown entered his junior high school season with the expectations that go hand in hand with a future in the prestigious program..
“In the beginning of the season, I felt that pressure,” he said. “I didn’t throw too well at the beginning of the season, but I talked to (coach Manero) a few times, and he said it’s not all on me, it’s a team effort, and I think that really helped me out a lot.”
The Knights will face District 12 champion La Salle in Monday’s PIAA 6A state semifinal. It’s a spot that seemed unlikely at best when the Knights were 5-4.
“Going into the season before we started, we felt pretty good about what we had, and we thought we had a team that could put together a nice year, but then about a third of the way through the season, we were not looking like a state semifinalist,” Manero said. “We had a week shutdown because of COVID. One of our middle of the order hitters had to miss six games because of COVID protocol.
“We ended up moving our middle infield around. We ended up switching our third baseman and first baseman. We had to make a lot of changes, so I really believe the season itself has been a work in progress, but all the while, our guys have really stuck with it. They really put the time in. It was one of those seasons where if you had come to me April 21 or something like that and said, ‘You’re going to be in the state semifinals.’ I would have said, ‘Well, that’s pretty amazing.’”
“I think the beginning part of the season we hadn’t figure things out just yet,” Brown said. “But throughout the season, we all found something we were struggling at, and we got better at it. It just seems we all came together as a team and as a group. We’re all having fun out there doing what we love.”
The tone for Thursday’s game – according to Manero – might well have been set in the top of the first inning after Gaige Ryan collected a leadoff single
“They tried to put a bunt down, and our third baseman, Justin Egner, came in and made a really good catch on the bunt – it was a low line drive, and he came in and caught it,” Manero said. “He made an off-balance throw to first, and RJ (Agriss) picked it out of the dirt, and we got a double play out of it.
“I know that sounds crazy because it was the top of the first inning, but I felt like that set the tone for us defensively, and it took an opportunity out of their hands to get an early run.”
“That’s a really big play right there,” Brown said. “Especially because we doubled them up. It cleared the bases and really helped change the momentum of the game and where it was going.”
Egner’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning spotted the Knights an early 1-0 lead. They added a pair of unearned runs in the second and seized complete control of the game with a six-run third.
Sam Cohen, who led off the inning, was hit by a pitch, and Ryan Sullivan followed with a single. A walk to Agriss loaded the bases. A run crossed the plate when Jeffrey Sabater was safe on an error, and a second run scored to put the Knights on top 5-0 when Evin Sullivan was hit by a pitch. That was followed by Steve Corrado’s booming two-run double to center field.
“That was the big blow that opened it up a little bit,” Manero said.
The inning wasn’t over yet. Egner and Colin Orndorff followed with back-to-back RBI singles, and the Knights led 9-0.
“It’s great to have run support, and you know you can just go out there and throw strikes whenever you need to because you know your teammates are going to be behind you making plays,” Brown said. “You know you’re not playing like you can’t give up a run.”
The Redskins put their leadoff man on in the fourth, and in the fifth, they had a pair on board, thanks to a single by Ryan and a two-out single by Jake Kozlowski. Brown slammed the door on that potential rally with a strikeout to end the inning.
In the sixth, the Redskins put a pair on base with two outs. Brown ended that threat with a strikeout. Brown capped a 1-2-3 seventh with a strikeout, setting off a jubilant celebration that included a dousing of the senior ace.
“We went out to eat after that, so I was soaked for that, but yeah, it was fun,” Brown said.
Ryan Sullivan’s 3-for-4 effort at the plate led the Knights’ attack.
“He’s batting .400 now, and that’s our nine hitter,” Manero said. “That’s a kid that was not a starting left fielder at the beginning of the season. We kind of went back and forth with a couple of guys out there, and he’s just won the job and been really tough for us in that nine spot.”
Also finishing with multiple hits were Agriss (2-for-4) and Egner (2-for-2, 2 RBIs). Evin Sullivan (1-for-2, 2 RBIs) and Corrado (1-3, 3 RBIs) also had productive days at the plate.
For the Redskins, Ryan was 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spots. The rest of the lineup was a combined 4-for-28.
North Penn (20-7, 11-5 SOL) will Face District 12 champion La Salle in Monday’s PIAA 6A semifinal contest at a site and time to be determined. Neshaminy closed out its season with a District One 6A title and a 17-7 record (10-6 SOL).
Neshaminy 000 000 0. 0-7-4
North Penn 126 000 x. 9-9-1
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