Springfield defeated Philadelphia Academy Charter 10-0 to earn a berth in the PIAA Class AA Tournament.
Springfield continued its memorable postseason run with a no-doubt-about-it 10-0 win over District 12 runner-up Philadelphia Academy Charter in a play-in game Friday at Neumann University. The win vaulted the Spartans into the PIAA Class AA Tournament.
“This is huge because last year we lost in this game,” junior Julian Salzer said of the Spartans 4-3 loss to Neumann Goretti in last year’s play-in game. “I was part of that team last year, and that was really tough.
“We had a tough season, but we’re fighting back in the playoffs. We’re playing great as a team. Our chemistry is unbelievable. It’s a huge win for us. I can’t wait for states. We’ll have a lot of fun, and hopefully, we can put together some wins.”
The Spartans struggled through a 3-11 SOL campaign but are reaping the benefits in the postseason for the tough competition they faced in American Conference play.
“That’s huge for us because during the year I see top hitters from around the area, and that’s why our record doesn’t really show what kind of team we are,” Salzer said. “We’ve faced a lot of teams that could have easily gone far in the playoffs and had really good squads.
“That really helps us prepare every year for the district championship four years in a row – it’s because of that great competition that we see. We see pitchers that prepare us for any pitchers that we see in the postseason, and I’ve faced hitters that are just as good as anyone I’ll see in the postseason.”
Salzer tossed a one-hit shutout, fanning four and walking two and once again showed why he has been the Spartans’ stopper all season.
“You can’t underestimate any team,” Salzer said. “I just wanted to pitch my game. It started off a little rough early, but I settled in. I knew our bats would come through by the end.”
“He pitched a good game,” coach Dennis Primavera said. “He got in a little trouble in the first and second innings, but he’s basically a ground ball pitcher. His ball sinks. He got his quota of fly balls and ground balls and we made the plays. When that happens, we’re fine.”
Primavera admits he toyed with the idea of saving his ace for the opening round of states.
“The report we had was they don’t have strong pitching from a fastball standpoint, but they had a lot of off-speed stuff, and they were good hitters,” the Spartans’ coach said. “That’s why I made the decision to go with our number one, Salzer, in a game that we needed to get us into the next game. I was tinkering with throwing our number three, who is also a good pitcher, but I didn’t want to lose this game with my number one sitting on the bench.”
The Spartans got on the scoreboard with a single run in the first, thanks to an RBI single by Billy Hetrick. They were still clinging to that 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
“Their pitcher threw off-speed, and our guys were jumping at the ball – they were too anxious,” Primavera said. “I was concerned with an off-speed pitcher because we haven’t seen one (recently). In the last three or four games, we’ve seen kids that are throwing hard, and we’ve been hitting.”
After watching his team manage just three hits through five innings, Primavera decided to change things up, and the fortunes of his team changed when Chris Binet opened the inning with a bunt single. It sparked the beginning of a nine-run uprising that brought an early end to the game and featured doubles by Marten Pauwels and Jeff Hammons and a two-run triple by Binet.
“Before Binet comes up to bat, the score is 1-0, and we’re popping up, we’re hitting dribblers, we’re not doing anything against their pitcher who’s an off-speed pitcher,” Primavera said. “I said, ‘That’s it.’ We’re playing small ball.
“I made him bunt, he bunts, he gets on, and then the skies opened up. Sometimes it happens that way. Their kid threw a good game for six innings and then things fell apart.”
While Salzer was in command and the team’s offense was operating on all cylinders, even more impressive was the fact that the Spartans played flawless defense and did not commit an error.
“What we had during the season – whether it was Julian or anyone else, he was throwing ground balls, and we were throwing the ball all over the place,” Primavera said. “We don’t have any strikeout pitchers per se.
“I had to move people around in positions late in the season. I had to move Ed Basino to second, I had to move Binet to short. I had Hammons at second for a game or two, but I put him back at third, and he’s actually playing very well at third. We were making the plays today. If we don’t do that, we lose.”
All told, the Spartans collected eight hits. Leading the way were Binet (2-for-4, triple, two RBIs, two runs) and Pauwels (2-for-3, double, two RBIs). Hammons was 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs, and the Spartans have saved their best baseball for their second season.
“We haven’t played 20 games yet,” Primavera said. “That’s the big thing I keep telling the kids. It takes a while to get to know a team. It takes a while for a team to mesh. We’re not the only ones. A lot of teams because of the winter we had – they only played 15-16 games.
“We had three (postseason) games in a row, and we’re still not at 20. It takes a while for the kids to get to know each other. It takes a while for the coaches to get to know the kids. Twenty games is about where it happens. The kids are doing fine.
Salzer has his own version of why the Spartans have succeeded in the postseason.
“Our seniors have stepped up huge – Marten Pauwels, Ian (Quigg), Hetrick and Hammons,” Salzer said. “Chris Binet has had a great year.
“Everyone is stepping up in the playoffs. Everyone knew we had to put the (regular) season behind us. It’s a new season in the playoffs. Everyone wants to step up, everyone wants to go far. We’re trying to be one of the best Springfield teams to come through here, and we have the team to do it. We have passion, and we just really want to strive to be the best we can be. There’s a lot of mojo, a lot of emotion during games. It’s a lot of fun out there.
The win propelled the Spartans into Monday’s opening round of the state tournament where they will face District 11 champion Notre Dame-Green Pond at Parkland High School (4 p.m.).
“I understand they had a really good year,” Primavera said. “Who knows what that means? We had a really bad year. Who knows what that means? We’re going to get ready. We have a practice Sunday. We’re going to do the same thing we always do. The kids don’t want to change the routine.”
Philadelphia Academy Charter 000 000 0-1-2
Springfield-Montco 100 009 10-8-0
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