Section 6: Pennridge and Franklin Township Roll to Victories on Day One

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Pennridge	1	0	1	1	7	1	11	13	1
CR Newtown	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	1

WP: Funk LP: Dreby

Pennridge made its first Section 6 appearance in nine years count in a big way, blasting their way to an 11-2 victory over Council Rock Newtown. The lineup was as powerful as always, and a four inning pitching effort from Jackson Funk was simply spectacular.

Manager Nate Ritter commented on his lineup: “There’s not a lot of take signs out there–we’re looking to do damage and have fun doing it.” And do damage they did, pounding out 13 hits against the champions from District 30.

Pennridge scored early, knocking on the door of a big inning to come later. Mags Rivera got it started with a two-out single in the first, smashing a ball to right that was misplayed and rolled to the fence. He ended up on third base and then scored on a wild pitch from Kyle Dreby.

Dreby was not the scheduled starter for Newtown, as shortly before the game, Nate Seiler was pulled from the starting role where he had originally appeared in the lineup. Newtown was also without Patrick McCafferty, who suffered an injury in the batting cages the night before. But CR Newtown pressed on, only giving up one run in the first.

Jackson Funk took the mound and struck out the first six batters he faced; five of those were swings and misses and Funk was ahead in the count to all but one.

“I just did what I normally do–throw strikes. My accuracy was really good for the first two innings,” Funk talked about his performance on the mound, “”[My] fastball is all I threw–I threw a couple curveballs, but fastball mainly.”

Things stayed quiet in the game until the third inning, when, from the 12-spot in the lineup, Funk helped his own cause by becoming the seventh batter to homer for Pennridge in the All-Star season. His solo shot to right field put Pennridge up 2-0.

“It was absolute happiness running around the bases with everyone cheering. It was so fun.”

Manager Nate Ritter spoke about Funk, “”That’s what we expect from him–his nickname is Automatic Jackson–he throws strikes. It’s great to see his bat woke up a little bit and give us a boost from the end of the lineup.”

Chase Roberts became the first batter to notch a hit against Funk, leading off the bottom of the third with a single up the middle. He was stranded at third when Casey Sampietro smashed a ball that went off the glove of Funk but right to Greyson Orsino at third who alertly fired across the diamond for the third out.

Mags Rivera again struck in the fourth, doubling up the gap in left-center to the wall. Martin Wiren drove him in on a hard-hit liner to center, making the Pennridge lead 3-0. The inning ended on a great defensive play by Newtown catcher Landon Ambruch, as he made a diving catch on a popup near home plate.

Solid defense got Pennridge through Newtown’s fourth inning turn at-bat. Jonah Los was on point at shortstop, firing across to get Greg Kniesel for the first out. Martin Wiren snagged a liner at first base off the bat of Mateo Vilca.

The aforementioned Vilca took the mound for his second inning of work in the fifth in relief of Dreby. On an 0-2 pitch to Jack Walters, Walters smashed a grounder right back to Vilca that took a hard bounce, came up, and hit Vilca squarely in the mouth. He was down for several minutes while ice was brought out and exited the game under his own power.

This second unexpected pitching change shook things up and really opened the door for Pennridge to bust through against Nate Seiler. Landon Ambruch followed up with a picture-perfect bunt between third base and the mound, reaching first safely. Rocky Alba worked a walk to load the bases and Hannah Wheeler walked on four pitches to force a run in. Seiler then fanned the next two batters and it appeared he had a good shot to get out of the inning without further damage. but Jordan Ritter doubled on yet another hard ball that rolled to the fence. That hit brought home two runs and ballooned the lead to 6-0. Two batters later, Martin Wiren tagged a ball that went off the glove of the second baseman and rolled out into right field for two more runs. Orsino then cleaned things up by lacing a triple to the fence in right and bringing the lead to 10-0.

Despite the injuries and flirting with being run-ruled, Council Rock Newtown found some positives to build on in the fifth inning. Nate Seiler worked a one-out walk and scored on a hit into right by Dreby that got by Walters. Dreby came around to third base and then scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 10-2.

Jackson Funk was chosen as the player of the game for his four inning pitching performance that included six strikeouts(in a row) and only two hits allowed. His solo home run came at a critical time early in the game and offered some insurance for his team. Jordan Orsino and Ritter both had 2RBI and Wiren went 3-for-3 with 3RBI to lead the way on offense.

Pennridge has now outscored all of its All-Star season opponents 46-10 and will look to keep the hits coming against Franklin Township in the winners bracket final against Franklin Township, Sunday at 1:00.

As the wins pile up, Ritter was asked about how the magnitude of each game: “It’s no different than any other game–it’s a different venue, but to them it’s just baseball.”

Council Rock Newtown looks to bounce back Sunday morning in an elimination game against Stroudsburg.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Franklin Township	5	4	0	0	3	X	12	10	4
Stroudsburg	0	1	0	1	0	X	2	4	3

WP: Mann LP: N Smith

“That first inning was huge,” were some of the first words from manager Travis Hunsicker following his team’s run-rule shortened rout of Stroudsburg. That five run first inning not only put the team from Lehighton ahead 5-0, but it also allowed Miles Mann to be available for another game tomorrow after throwing only one inning. Contributions up and down the lineup made quick work of things for Franklin Township, as multiple players had multi-hit and multi-RBI days.

Perhaps foreshadowing defeat for Stroudsburg was an opening error at shortstop off a ball hit by Myles Meek to open the game. The throw came in late following a bobble and Meek was on to start the game. Brody Hunsicker scored Meek on a hard-hit double to the wall in left just inside the line. Starting pitcher Nolan Smith then plunked Jakoby Andrews. Jake Kistner hit another ball sharply to Dom Marinaro. Marinaro got a glove on it to prevent it from going into the outfield, but the bases were now loaded with one out. Nolan Smith then lost the strike zone and walked three consecutive batters to force home three more runs. Just like that, Franklin Township was on top 4-0 and had chased Smith from the game, giving way to Jalen Pluviose. Mason Neff hit a sac fly and brought home Grant Hunter to make it 5-0 after an inning.

“All I have to do is get my foot down and I can drive it,” said player of the game Brody Hunsicker of his RBI hit.

Manager Travis Hunsicker echoed the sentiment and noted the importance of that first frame, “We were able to put up a crooked number in the top of the first and put all the pressure on them, which we talked about–the first inning was critical.”

He also talked about what it’s like to coach his son, “It’s awesome. He works hard and has a great attitude and in the top of the first inning got that hit down the left field line and put a run across for us was huge.”

Two reached in the bottom of the first for Stroudsburg, but both were stranded after Nolan Smith grouned into a 6-4 fielders choice and Jordan Volino struck out. The big lead allowed Miles Mann to exit the game and stay under the 20 pitch mark.

“We’ve lost some sleep this week trying to gameplan for a pitching strategy. For him to throw 20 pitches in an inning and have three or four kids come in and throw a lot of strikes is key. Bryson Brungard–great job by him as well,” said manager Travis Hunsicker of his pitching rotation.

With a 6-0 lead in the second inning, Jakoby Andrews cleared two runners and scored. His single to right field was mishandled and rolled by the right fielder. Andrews never slowed down and came all the way around, making the lead 9-0. A nice defensive play ended the half inning, as Dom Marinaro gloved a ball off the bat of Jake Kistner and stepped on second. He then fired to first to complete the double play.

After Wyatt Smith singled home Stroudsburg’s first run in the second inning, the team had a golden opportunity for more in the third, despite trailing 9-1. After two strikeouts, Stroudsburg turned the lineup over and Frankie Revitt worked a walk. Jalen Pluvioise hit one to Mann at short. The throw to first went wide. Marinaro worked a walk on five pitches to load the bases. Nolan Smith then hit a ball to Mann who flipped underhanded to Bryson Brungard covering second base to end the threat.

Grant Hunter and Parker Cummins put Franklin Township ahead by ten runs with their RBI hits in the fifth inning, putting the pressure on Stroudsburg to avoid being run ruled. Despite a Dylan Bashey leadoff single, Stroudsburg would not bring him in and the game ended on a Revitt flyout to right.

“One through twelve contribute offensively for us. We find a way to get on base and put the ball in play and put pressure on the other team; it doesn’t matter if we start an inning with our leadoff man or our ninth batter,” Travis Hunsicker spoke on his lineup.

Grant Hunter led the way for Franklin Township with 3RBI. Brody Hunsicker and Jakoby Andrews both brought in two. Bryson Brungard ate up 2.1 innings, seeing his first mound action in the All-Star season and keeping both Mann and Meek eligible for tomorrow’s winners bracket final against Pennridge.

Brody Hunsicker was asked about Sunday’s game against Pennridge, “We’ve got to play hard. I heard they’re pretty good but we can definitely beat them.”

His father echoed the excitement to play Pennridge, “Obviously they’re very good. They put the ball in play and have some pitching depth, so I’m sure they’ll show up ready to play tomorrow. We will as well. It’ll be a great winners bracket game–looking forward to it.”