North Penn will face Wyoming Valley West in Friday’s PIAA Q-A state title game on Friday. Check back for photos and a complete game wrap.
By Scott Huff
Remarkable.
North Penn will be playing for its third PIAA Quad-A State Championship in the last seven years on Friday at 5:30 pm as the Knights meet District 2 champion Wyoming Valley West at Medlar Field on the campus of Penn State University. North Penn captured the state baseball title in both 2009 and 2013.
“We take a lot of pride in the fact that we build our program through our community programs,” said North Penn head coach Kevin Manero who was an assistant coach under Bob McCreary in 2009 and the head coach of the Knights in 2013. “Good players are developed in our community programs – and we continue to develop those players at the next level in high school.
“We hear about how big a school we are, and that is true,” added Manero. “But numbers in a school doesn’t translate into winning. There are a lot of big schools that don’t have winning baseball programs. We have good players, and we take it one season at a time.”
And that time for a third state title in seven years could be this Friday against the Spartans.
Remarkable.
[2-1] Wyoming Valley West Spartans vs. [2-1] North Penn Knights
PIAA Quad-A State Baseball Champinship Game
Friday – June 12, 2015 – 5:30 pm
@ Medlar Field – State College
Penn State University
Playoff Resume:
Wyoming Valley West: The Spartans entered the state playoffs as the PIAA Quad-A District Two champions. Wyoming Valley West collected the district trophy with a 4-1 victory over Hazelton in the district final. Wyoming Valley West opened the state tournament with a 4-0 victory over Chambersburg as Billy Gregory fired a complete-game – six-hit – shutout. Ryan Hogan sparked the offense with two RBIs. In the quarterfinals, the Spartans edged District 12 champion St. Joe Prep by a 2-1 score. Tyler Yankowsky threw a complete game for the winner and allowed just five hits. Logan Zavada drove home the game winner for WVW. In the semifinals, Wyoming Valley West surprised District 11 champion Parkland by a 5-1 margin. Gregory fired a complete game for the Spartans, while Justin Vought led the offense with a homerun.
North Penn: The Knights entered the state playoffs as the PIAA Quad-A District One runner-up. North Penn lost in the District One title game to Council Rock North – 4-3. The Knights opened the state tournament with a 5-0 victory over District 12 runner-up Olney Charter. In the win over Olney – James Witner, Kellen Williamson, and Paul Haynie combined for a four-hit shutout. Mason Nadeau sparked the offense in the win with a clutch two-run single. In the state quarterfinal victory – NP defeated Suburban One League rival Pennsbury by a 2-1 score. Witner was the winning pitcher with a four-hit complete-game victory, while Jared Melone had two hits and collected the game-winning RBI. In the semifinal victory – Colin Healey was masterful with an eight-inning pitching gem that helped the Knights advance to the state title game with a 3-1 victory over Shaler High School. The Knights – who trailed 1-0 since the first inning - tied the score in the top of the seventh without the benefit of a hit, capitalizing on a walk, two hit batters and a sacrifice fly by Jake Schuster. Mike Christy delivered the game-winning blow with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
About Wyoming Valley West:
The Spartans own a record of 17-1 overall with their only loss a 10-inning setback against Wyoming Valley by a 3-2 score…Wyoming Valley West has won its last 12 games and won the Wyoming Valley Conference regular season title with a 11-1 mark…The Spartans are the first team from their conference to have multiple appearances in the state finals – losing in the AAA finals in 1996...Pitching ace Billy Gregory has been outstanding in the postseason with a 4-0 record and a microscopic earned run average of 0.28…Gregory is 7-0 overall with a 0.85 ERA…Catcher Ryan Hogan leads the Spartan hitting attack with a .529 batting average with five homeruns.
About North Penn:
The Knights own an overall record of 22-4…NP is playing in its third state title game in the last seven years…North Penn has won 13 of its last 14 games and was the champion of the Suburban One League Continental Conference with a record of 12 -2…conference losses came against Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks East…North Penn has received excellent pitching from a trio of senior pitchers…James Witner is 7-1 with an ERA of 1.28…Kellen Williamson is 8-1 with an ERA of 2.10…and Colin Healey is 4-0 with an ERA of 1.11…Third baseman Jared Melone leads the Knights in both batting average (.442) and homeruns (3).
Probable Starting Lineups:
Wyoming Valley West: (1) – Justin Montalvo [cf - .346]; (2) – Chris Lupole [ss - .264]; (3) – Ryan Hogan [c - .529]; (4) – Justin Vought [dh - .279]; (5) – Billy Gregory [p - .460]; (6) - Eric Ratter [rf - .310]; (7) – Mark Baron [lf - .298]; (8) Tyler Yankowsky [1b - .147]; and (9) – Logan Zavada [3b - .333].
Senior Billy Gregory (7-0 with an ERA of 0.85) is the projected starter for the Spartans.
North Penn: (1) – Mike Christy [ss - .330]; (2) – Alex Peterson [lf - .342]; (3) – Mason Nadeau [cf - .372]; (4) - Jared Melone [3b - .442]; (5) – Douglass Apple [1b - .365]; (6) – Jake Schuster [dh - .247]; (7) – Zach Ziegler [rf - .270); (8) – Anthony Cameron [2b - .259]; and (9) – Matt Marino [c - .196].
Senior James Witner (7-1 with an ERA of 1.28) is the projected starter for the Knights.
North Penn Head Coach Kevin Manero says:
“(Advancing to the state title game) is very difficult. It’s a long road. A lot of things have to go your way. You have to be very talented; you have to believe you can do it.
“When we got there a couple of years ago, we were just kind of riding a wave. When you get back to the playoffs after that, some people think – ‘Oh, we’re just automatically going to go there again,’ but we know that’s not true. I don’t think our guys talked about it. I think they just simply go out, and they play the game one pitch at a time, and they play one game at a time.
“Their approach to the game is the same every day. They don’t get thrown off, they don’t lose their focus, and I think that’s really important when you have to go through these single elimination dogfights every day when you get to this part of the season. So I give them a lot of credit for the character they have and the approach they take.”
Winner Gets:
The winner of this game receives the 2015 PIAA Quad-A State Championship Trophy.
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