Upper Dublin made history when the Cards defeated Shaler Area 8-2 in Thursday’s PIAA 5A final to capture the program’s first ever state crown. Photos provided courtesy of Upper Dublin students Jacob Reif & Sam Cowen.
It’s a moment they will freeze frame in their memories for a lifetime.
The moment the final out was recorded in Thursday’s PIAA 5A state final at Penn State University’s Medlar Field. The throw from second baseman Eddie Stoffel to first baseman Austin Dahl had barely found Dahl’s glove when the celebration began for the Cardinals, who captured their program’s first ever state title.
“It was probably the best moment of my life – just seeing that final out, seeing everything we worked for and in that one final out being able to celebrate with my friends after an insane season is something I’ll never forget,” UD senior Eric Berman said. “It was one of the greatest moments of my life and I’m guessing for a bunch of other senior kids too and everyone on the team. This is something we’ll all never forget, something we’ll talk about forever. It’s just a super exciting time.”
“It was awesome,” senior catcher Dave Morris said. “It was absolutely unreal. It didn’t feel real at first, and then I said it – ‘Oh my God, we just won the state championship.’ It was such a cool feeling.”
"It means the absolute world to not only me, but to the entire team," added senior Austin Dahl. "We’ve been working for this goal all year, and the last 4 years as a whole. To finish my high school career on top is an absolute blessing, and I couldn’t be happier for all of us."
The Cardinals dominated Thursday’s state final, pounding out 13 hits and playing flawless defense while freshman Luke Caron notched the complete game win on the mound.
“It was crazy,” Berman said. “We just put everything together we’ve been working on all season, and we played our best baseball game in the biggest game of our season.”
The Cardinals plated a run in the second and three more in the third to go on top 4-0. The Titans got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the third, but the Cardinals – benefitting from a pair of walks and singles by Gavin Litten and Matthew Logerstedt - added three runs in the fourth to go on top 7-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Logerstedt delivered a web gem, turning a potential extra-base hit to right field into a double play - throwing out the runner on first who was already on third base after making a diving catch at the warning track.
Shaler scored a run in the fifth, but the Cardinals got that run back with a monster solo home run over the right field wall by Logerstedt for the 8-2 final.
“It was awesome,” Caron said. “Just looking back at all the winter workouts and early mornings and powering through. To see that all come together in one moment –it was a great feeling. We earned it.”
By the numbers: Upper Dublin: Matthew Logerstedt (3-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, 2R), Gavin Litten (2-for-4, 1R), Wesley Gill (2-for-3, 1RBI, 1R).
Luke Caron (W) (7 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K) (2-for-3)
Key inning: Top of the second: The Cards put a run on the scoreboard when – with two outs – Wesley Gill lined a single to left, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when Caron singled to right field.
Top of third: With one out, Oliver Gill lined a single to right, and Litten followed with a single to right and advanced to second on an error. Logerstedt followed with an RBI single to right field, and a groundout by Ben Wilkins brought home the inning’s second run. Wesley Gill’s infield single plated a run, and UD led 4-0.
Upper Dublin coach Ed Wall:
--Raising the bar: “What this means to the program is that we continue to raise the bar. Getting into district playoffs was a big ambition for us back in the day and then getting into states after 2012 was a job. We
got in in ’22, and we hit our ceiling in the quarterfinals.
“These guys are the epitome of sticking together, playing for each other, and never letting a teammate down. This was an ambition, a goal, whatever you want to call it. It was something they've been looking forward to doing for the last four years.
“And after watching that ‘22 group and all the guys along the way that have helped this team - the alumni, the former players, all the coaches - they have absorbed every ounce of knowledge. They've taken advantage of every opportunity. They were there for every practice, every workout, every lift. And they deserve everything because they worked for it, and I couldn't be more proud of them. They were amazing.”
Logerstedt stars: Matthew Logerstedt – a swing player for a portion of the season - would be the first to admit he couldn’t have imagined himself playing in a state title game, much less earning most outstanding player honors from PCN.
Yet there he was, delivering the defensive gem of the game – a fully extended diving catch near the warning track that robbed Colby McGuire of extra bases. The sophomore outfielder got up, fired to first to easily double up the Shaler baserunner who was already on third base.
“I just started to range back – I didn’t know if I was going to be able to catch it, but I was going to make an attempt to,” Logerstedt said. “I just started going back and laid my full body out and basically snow coned it with my glove.”
The sophomore outfielder also had three RBIs. The first two came on RBI singles.
“After the first at-bat, I just got everything off my chest,” he said. “I tried to be relaxed at the plate, and I was just seeing the ball really well.”
His third RBI was a mighty blast over the wall in right field for a solo home run – the lone extra base hit of the night for the Cards.
“That was actually my first home run ever on a big field that I hit over a fence,” said Logerstedt. “I definitely got it straight on the barrel. I didn’t want it to hit the top of the fence and have me jogging and get thrown out at second, so I knew I had to hustle out of the box. It just felt amazing to finally get it out.”
It was the kind of hitting performance Wall was hoping to see from his sophomore outfielder.
“The bat – we’ve been watching all season,” the UD coach said. “A lot of his at-bats came on the JV level because we were successful with the senior group we had up there, but we knew we were going to need a little bit extra.
“He was overwhelmed at times throughout the postseason, but this is the offensive kid we’ve seen. The missing piece we were unsure of was the defense, and man oh man, that catch was insane, it was insane.”
It’s a night Logerstedt will file away with his best memories.
“It was a surreal experience,” he said. “It was probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life. Just grinding through the season, starting JV and being a swing guy to make it all the way into the varsity lineup – it felt amazing.”
Caron in command: Luke Caron – as a freshman - has the improbable distinction of earning wins in three of UD’s four state playoff games. In Monday’s state semifinal win, Austin Dahl deserves all the credit in the world for pitching 6 2/3 shutout innings in a no-decision that saw Caron record the final four outs to earn win in UD’s 1-0 win over Elizabethtown in eight innings.
But there’s no denying that Caron has been a force in the postseason, and coach Ed Wall had absolutely no qualms giving him the ball to start the Cardinals’ biggest game on the biggest stage.
“Everybody that I talked to – I was talking to some college coaches over the past week, and I said, ‘Hey, we're starting this freshman - you need to take a look. Put him on your radar,’” Wall said. “And they said, ‘You're starting a freshman in a state final?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am.’ They're like, ‘Okay.’ And I said, ‘Watch. just watch,’ so I hope they did.”
Caron was in command from the outset, retiring the first six batters he faced,
“I know my teammates have confidence in me going out there,” he said. “I can go out there carefree almost because I know those guys are going to be behind me to help me out.”
Caron’s remarkable composure was underscored in the fifth inning when Shaler’s student section – in an attempt to unnerve him – counted off the time between pitches after a leadoff double.
“There’s not much that gets me rattled,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot worse stuff from fans, and I wasn’t going to let them win that one.
“I was just waiting until (the umpire) said time to reset. That kind of got the energy back in the place.”
Caron went on to strike out the batter and retired eight of nine batters to close out the game.
Dave Morris has had a front row seat to Caron’s remarkable postseason behind the plate.
“It’s really cool because he’s like a senior at least because he has so much confidence, and his pitches work really well,” the UD catcher said. “I’ve been playing with Luke for a while because I played with his older brother, Mike Caron, and he’s been playing in tournaments and stuff with us, so we’ve always had that connection.”
Berman sets the tone: Eric Berman is the consummate leadoff hitter – he’s patient, he doesn’t swing at bad pitches, and he makes pitchers work.
“When I’m up there, I just try to be a hard out every single time,” Berman said. “I try to drive the ball up the middle, and if it’s not my pitch, I won’t swing at it until
two strikes. I want to be a hard out and just get on base for the team every time.”
The Cards’ senior led off the game by drawing his first of two walks in the game.
“He led off with an eight-pitch at-bat, and that's vintage Eric,” Wall said. “That’s what he's been doing for four years. And he gets overlooked sometimes, but the kid is all heart, brains, and an absolute dog out there on the field.”
Four straight times in Thursday’s state title game, Berman reached base – he drew a pair of walks, he was hit by a pitch, and he had a single.
“He’s a real special athlete and baseball player,” Wall said. “He's so smart. And his defense has been there nonstop since day one of his freshman year. This year his offense has just matured into this absolute beast that you cannot keep off the bases, and the last month or two, he's just absolutely been tearing the cover off the baseball.
“He’s always been known as a small ball guy and a bunt-and-run type of guy, and that's totally part of his arsenal. But he has become someone who just is more than a table setter. He creates extra base hits. He puts pressure on pitchers because it's almost always a three-two count every time that he leads off.”
Morris an unsung hero: Dave Morris wasn’t quite sure he’d play an inning of baseball this spring when – in Upper Dublin’s third game of the football season last fall against Central Bucks South – he tore his ACL and then had surgery Oct. 4.
“At first, I wasn’t that confident I was going to be able to play, but once I talked to my surgeon at Penn, I was pretty confident after that, and I worked extremely hard,” Morris said. “It was pretty much a seven-day-a-week thing.
“I would go to PT three times a week, I would go to the gym four days a week, and at home, I was biking on a stationary bike and just stretching it out and stuff like that.”
Six months later, Morris was given clearance to return to action. He missed the team’s first SOL series against Plymouth Whitemarsh, but he has been a fixture behind the plate for the Cards since then.
“David working his way back has meant everything to our season,” Wall said. “We couldn’t have done this without him. Amazing effort and dedication so he could play with and for his boys.”
After notching the complete game win, Caron credited his batterymate.
“He’s awesome,” the UD freshman said. “Before every inning, between every inning, we’re talking about how we want to go after the next guy.
“He’s a great mind to have back there. He makes my job a lot easier in terms of choosing pitches. I wish I could have all four of my years with him.”
For Morris, it’s been quite a journey that was capped with Thursday’s state title win.
“It was absolutely awesome because I have played with most of these guys since I was eight or night years old,” he said. “And then to come back from my ACL and win a state championship, it actually meant the world to me. It was one of the best feelings ever.”
They’ll be back: It was impossible to miss the contributions of the team’s three youngest players in Thursday’s win. Caron notched the complete game win and was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Logerstedt was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs and Gavin Litten was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
“Logerstedt and Gavin Litten – two of the guys that were in our lineup frequently throughout the postseason – were swing guys,” Wall said. “And along with Luke. He would come up and pitch for us and then he’d go back (to the JV) and play defense.
“In that way, they were always getting at-bats. They were never sitting on the bench. We just value that – they’re playing baseball. They’re sophomores and freshmen. If it’s a junior or senior, we handle that a little bit differently. But sophomores need to play, so we would bring them up for non-league games or – if JV finished early – they would come up and hop in there. If the situation allowed it, we’d try to get them an at-bat or put them out there for defense.”
On Thursday, the Cards reaped the dividends – the trio finished a combined 7-for-11 with four RBIs.
“No matter if they were swing before, everyone just wanted to help out in some way, and we got help from a kid (Logerstdt) who spent some time on JV,” Berman said. “But we knew he was good enough to play varsity any moment, and he really helped us out tonight.
“Every single player wanted the same thing, every single player wanted to win.”
The season: Upper Dublin closed out its historic season with a 20-7 record overall. The Cards captured the SOL Liberty Division title with an 11-4 mark, they were the District 1 5A runner and the PIAA 5A state champions.
Upper Dublin 8, Shaler Area 2
Upper Dublin 013 301 0 8-13-0
Shaler 001 010 0 2-5-2
Upper Dublin (8) – Eric Berman cf 2 1 1 0; Eddie Stoffel 2b 3 1 1 0; Austin Dahl 1b 4 1 1 0; Oliver Gill ss 3 1 1 1; Gavin Litten dh 4 1 2 0; Matthew Logerstedt rf 4 2 3 3; Ben Wilkins 3b 4 0 0 1; Wesley Gill lf 3 1 2 1; Eddie Joyce 1 0 0 0; Luke Caron p 3 0 2 1; Connor Dynan pr 1 0 0 0; Michael Lombardo pr 0 0 0 0; David Morris c 0 0 0 0; TOTALS 32 8 13 7.
Shaler Area (2) – Kaleb Jockel rf 4 0 1 0; Troy Leas 3b 3 0 0 0; Ben Yeckel 1b 3 0 0 0; Max Saban dh 2 0 0 0; Colby McGuire 2b 3 0 0 0; Joe Rispoli c 2 0 0 0; Luke Jarzynka pr 1 0 0 0; Landon Schiffhauer ss 3 1 2 0; Brendan Fitzgerald lf 2 1 1 0; Logan Bauer cf 2 0 1 1; Dante DeLeonibus p 0 0 0 0; Salvatore Leo p 0 0 0 0; TOTALS 25 2 5 1.
E Shaler 2. LOB - UD 8, S 5. 2B – Schiffhauer, Fitzgerald, 3B Schiffhauer. HR – Logerstedt. HBP – Berman. SH – O Gill. SB – Berman, Logerstedt. CS – Lombardo.
Upper Dublin IP H R ER BB SO
Luke Caron (W) 7.0 5 2 2 3 5
Shaler Area IP H R ER BB SO
Dante DeLeonibus (L) 5.1 11 5 4 1 3
Salvatore Leo 1.2 2 3 2 2 0
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