Upper Dublin fell to Strath Haven in Tuesday’s District 1 5A title game. Photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f12122253
District 1 5A title game
#3 STRATH HAVEN 7, #1 UPPER DUBLIN 4
Strath Haven was hardly an unfamiliar opponent.
Tuesday’s district title game was a rematch of year’s district thriller, a 3-2 Upper Dublin win. Although the Panthers exacted a degree of revenge, capturing a title UD owned, the Cardinals battled gamely. They trailed 4-1 but rallied to even the score in the fifth only to see the Panthers score three runs of their own in the sixth to earn the win.
“I am very proud of the way our guys battled because we could have easily just packed it in and said, ‘Oh, they have their ace on the mound,’ but we went out and put three on them,” UD coach Ed Wall said. “The key to the game was us being able to take care of the baseball. Whether that is filling up the strike zone or getting outs when they’re bunting. In one inning, they rattled off (three) bunts in a row, and then there was a big hit. That was a big piece, and they also hit the ball.”
In the top of the first, the Panthers benefitted from some control issues to plate a run without a hit. The Cardinals evened the score in the bottom of the third when Brendan O’Brien, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a single by Eric Berman.
Strath Haven scored three runs in the fourth inning. The inning that began with a double, and that was followed by three consecutive bunt singles and then a two-run double. Just like that, the Panthers led 4-1.
“There comes a point where you have to tip your hat to the efforts they made and the way they executed,” Wall said. “Going into the game, we knew they were a small ball team, and we worked a lot on it.
“We felt like we were ready for them. We had a couple different plays designed to defend it, but when you execute it, it’s really hard to defend, no matter what you do because the pitch can be in the right spot, yet they still get it down.”
The Cardinals rallied to knot the score in the fifth. Berman drew a leadoff walk, and with two outs, Austin Dahl singled, setting the stage for a booming two-run double by Aidan McCarthy. A Strath Haven error allowed McCarthy to score the tying run.
“McCarthy had a little bit of redemption – he had our biggest hit of the night, driving in two guys to really spark us,” Wall said. “Then we took advantage of an opportunity, and there we are knotted up.”
A leadoff walk in the top of the sixth set the stage for Strath Haven’s three-run inning. The Cardinals put their first two runners on board in the bottom of the sixth but came up empty. McCarthy drew a one-out walk in the seventh, but the next two batters were retired to close out the game.
“They took advantage of some opportunities with runners in scoring position – they got big hits, and we didn’t,” Wall said. “That’s the way it was today.”
“Our infield made a lot of picks and grabs and that kept the ball in the infield. They had an infield hit in the six hole, and Jared (Levis) fielded it, but we just didn’t have a play.
“They laid down a really well-placed bunt with (Jacob) Cornbluth in there. We just didn’t have a play. There were moments when their execution outshined. Chase Sunday came in and got us out of a big spot, got us through another inning, made a great play on a squeeze bunt.”
Berman’s 3-for-3 effort with an RBI and run scored led the Cardinals. Paul Stoffel was 2-for-4, and O’Brien was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
“This group had a lot of expectations put on them,” Wall said. “When you have expectations, that means you’re doing something right. These guys stepped up to that challenge all season and put themselves in a position and battled for it to go back-to-back.
“It’s really hard to go back-to-back, let alone against a team that you beat down in their territory. It’s a second place medal, but not too many guys get to wear those. It’s just another piece along the journey. We have states. I told them – we won, the conference, we didn’t win districts, but we have another shot at our third goal of the season. We’re back at it tomorrow getting ready for Monday.”
Upper Dublin (16-6, 14-2 SOL) will face the District 11 champion in Monday’s opening round of the state tournament.
Strath Haven 100 303 0 7-10-2
Upper Dublin 001 030 0 4-11-1
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