Springfield saw its season end in Monday’s opening round PIAA Class AA state game against Notre Dame-Green Pond.
By Scott Huff
Allentown – The Spartans went out on their proverbial shield as Springfield fell to Notre Dame-Green Pond 6-5 in the first round of the PIAA Class AA state playoffs played at Parkland High School.
“We did everything we could today to win the game,” said senior catcher Marten Pauwels who fueled a Spartan rally that overcame a 3-1 deficit to create a 5-3 Springfield lead in the fifth inning. “We battled hard to stay in the game and take the lead. But it wasn’t enough.”
“We were one play away from winning a one-run game and moving on in the playoffs,” said Springfield head coach Dennis Primavera. “Unfortunately we have lost more than our share of one-run games this year.
“We have been playing very good baseball lately,” added Primavera. “And we played a very good baseball game today – even though we lost.”
The Spartans have indeed been playing very good baseball lately.
Springfield opened the PIAA District One Class AA playoffs with a 9-3 win over Bristol and followed with an 8-6 victory over New Hope-Solebury, which earned the Spartans its fourth consecutive PIAA Class AA District One title. Springfield gained a berth in the state playoffs with a 10-0 win over Philadelphia Academy Charter.
“It has been a nice run – an awesome last four years,” said Pauwels. “But a win today would have been great. We wanted to keep winning baseball games.”
And after Springfield scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning it looked like the Spartans’ season would continue.
Notre Dame scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead, but Springfield scored a single run in the second inning to shave that lead in half. Senior Eddie Bacino opened the inning with a single – moved to second on a walk – moved the third on a fielder’s choice – and scored on an infield single by junior Deandre Johnson.
Notre Dame tacked on a single run in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead but the Spartans hit the ball hard and took the lead with a four-run outburst in the fifth inning.
Junior Mike Johnston opened the inning with a single and moved to third base on a single by senior Ian Quigg. Quigg stole second base, putting runners on second and third base. Junior Chris Binet collected an RBI single to score Johnston and moved Quigg to third base, which brought the hot hitting Pauwels to the plate.
“Marten has come th
rough all season in big situations,” said Primavera of his talented catcher. “And there was no doubt that he was going to come through in that situation. He has done it for us all year.”
Pauwels drove home both Quigg and Binet with a blistering triple to right center field to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. Courtesy runner Cory Cottone would score the fourth run of the inning and the fifth run of the game on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Billy Hetrick.
The 5-3 Springfield lead would dissolve as Notre Dame would score three unanswered runs in its half of the fifth inning to create the eventual final score of 6-5.
“I was pleased with how the season ended,” said Primavera. “We didn’t really get a wake-up call until midway through our regular (Suburban One League American Conference) season, but we played well from then on.
“I told everyone at the beginning of the season that we would go as far as our core seniors players would carry us,” added Primavera in reference to his five senior captains that included Pauwels, Quigg, Bacino, Hetrick, and Jeffrey Hammons. “And they carried us to a district title and a chance to compete for a state championship.”
“We finally realized that this was our time,” said Pauwels. “And once we realized that, we began to show everyone exactly how good we are.”
And during its playoff run that was pretty darn good.
Springfield Spartans 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 - 5 9 0
Notre Dame Crusaders 2 0 1 0 0 3 x - 6 12 0
Springfield Spartans ab r h rbi
Ian Quigg 4 1 1 0
Chris Binet 4 1 1 1
Marten Pauwels 4 1 2 2
Eddie Bacino 4 1 2 0
Billy Hetrick 2 0 0 1
Julian Salzer 2 0 0 0
Jeffrey Hammons 3 0 1 0
Deandre Johnson 3 0 1 1
Mike Johnston 3 1 1 0
Totals 29 5 9 5
Notre Dame Crusaders
Kyle Buchman 4 1 1 0
Eric Santiago 4 2 2 0
Paul Roth 2 1 2 1
Charlie Barebo 3 2 2 1
Zachary Luke 3 0 2 4
Gerald Pasucci 3 0 0 0
Chris DeGaetano 3 0 1 0
John McDonald 3 0 1 0
Matt Simko 2 0 1 0
Totals 27 6 12 6
Winning Pitcher – Zachary Luke
Losing Pitcher – Eddie Bacino
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