Section 6: Pennridge Rolls into Championship Game; CR Newtown Bats Come Alive

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Franklin Township	0	0	0	2	X	X	2	6	2
Pennridge	7	5	0	0	X	X	12	9	0

WP: Wiren LP: Meek

Broadcast: LISTEN

In their Section 6 opener, Franklin Township scored five runs in the first inning. Pennridge turned the tables in all-fire hurry, exploding for seven early runs and flexing their powerful muscle once again at Tamaqua.

Franklin Township had a chance to score first. After Brody Hunsicker doubled to left with one out, Jakoby Andrews flew one to center field. The ball was caught there by Jordan Ritter, who alertly threw the ball in, where Hunsicker was doubled off trying to get back to second base.

Gavin De Milt kicked off Pennridge’s half of the first, reaching on an error at first base on a throw from Miles Mann at short. Ritter then knocked a ball off the wall in right, giving him a standup RBI triple. Mags Rivera kept things going with a hard hit ball through Mann at short, who made a diving effort. Martin Wiren waited until the fourth pitch he saw and then hit one into left. With runners on the corners and a 2-0 lead, Greyson Orsino delivered a big 2RBI double to left.

Orsino would talk in the postgame about his team’s effort: “We played team baseball and we all did our job. We’re all swinging really well and we’re all coming together as a team really well.”

All of the first inning runs were charged to Myles Meek, the ace for Franklin Township who had only allowed one earned run coming into the big start.

But the first inning wasn’t done. Jack Walters hit a ball to center field that was dropped and then picked up by Jayce Graham. A few batters later, Hannah Wheeler notched her second hit of the All-Star season, ripping a ball through short for an RBI that extended the lead to 6-0. Landon Ambruch scored on a wild pitch and the inning mercifully came to an end as Hannah Wheeler was thrown out at third trying to advance on the wild pitch. When the dust settled, Pennridge led 7-0 and had already chased Meek from the game.

“If the pitcher’s going to throw you pitches to hit, you might as well hit them. It’s always nice to put up a crooked number. When you can do that and put the pressure on them, it’s nice and it’s part of the formula,” manager Nate Ritter remarked on the lopsided first frame, “[It’s] [g]ood team baseball. Again, we preached to come out and put balls in play hard and throw strikes when our pitchers had their numbers called and that’s our formula right now.”

Martin Wiren picked up two strikeouts in the second inning to help get his team back on offense. They continued to pound the baseball all over the park. Mason Neff did not fair better than Meek. After Ritter singled to left, Neff walked three in a row to force in another run. The big hit in the inning was a Jack Walters bases clearing double to the wall in right.

After just two innings, Pennridge led 12-0 and had compiled nine scorching hits. Meanwhile, a steady rain had been falling for most of the ballgame and many were surprised that the game wasn’t delayed. Runners and pitchers had been slipping at times, and the rain did little to slow down a very fast track at Tamaqua.

Despite all of that, Franklin Township showed no quit. Wiren was finally touched up in the third inning, with Christian Snyder doubling off the fence in right. Mason Neff then walked on five pitches. However, Orsino flashed his glove on a hard hit ball by Bryson Brungard and stepped on third base to get the lead runner and second out. Dean Kuhns walked to load the bases. Meek then hit a ball down to first base where Mags Rivera stepped on the bag to end the threat and leave the bases juiced.

Still trailing 12-0 in the fourth, Franklin Township stared down the run rule. Brody Hunsicker, son of manager Travis, singled to the left-center gap to open the inning, followed by a hit back up the middle by Jakoby Andrews. Miles Mann grounded out, but the first run of the game came home for the team from Lehighton. Andrews would score on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 12-2. Snyder walked to load the bases with two outs, and the team only needed another run to stave off defeat. The second out was recorded when Parker Cummins hit a ball in the air down the right field line. Walters made a great play covering a lot of ground and making the catch on the line. Jordan Los took the mound with the mission of getting the final out of the game, and he did just that. On four pitches, he got Mason Neff looking at strike three.

The victory marks the sixth straight victory of the All-Star season for Pennridge. The team is now outscoring opponents 58-12 and shows no signs of slowing down.

Orsino’s 3RBI day netted him player of the game honors. His coach spoke about him after the game: “”Greyson is a really great charatcer. He has really bought in to the formula of the team and the success and has matured as a player and as a person.”

When asked if his team could be playing better right now, player of the game Greyson Orsino responded, “Not really.”

Asked the same question, manager Nate Ritter elaborated, “”Absolutely. We still have some errors here and there. Our pitching sometimes gets a little haywire when we start overthrowing. We still haven’t seen a couple kids really ick the barrels yet, so we’re going to keep preaching and keep practicing.”

Pennridge now gets a critical day off to rest up for the championship game scheduled for Tuesday night. Council Rock Newtown or Franklin Township will need to beat Pennridge twice to advance to states, while Pennridge will need just one victory.

Ritter made it very clear: “Earning that day off is huge. We live two hours at a time right now.”

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
CR Newtown	0	1	2	1	0	6	10	13	1
Stroudsburg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2

WP: Roberts LP: Revitt

Broadcast: LISTEN

Council Rock Newtown avoided elimination as the bats came alive in the final game of the All-Star season for Stroudsburg and final Majors All-Star game to be played by a team from District 29.

The game played by two teams who could only meet again in a scrimmage or state tournament saw Newtown chip away at Stroudsburg’s pitching until a crooked number late allowed them to pull away for good. Chase Roberts and Mike Antolino combined for a one-hitter, while Owen Casciano provided the biggest of the big hits.

“Everybody felt good today and it was good to see Newtown baseball get back at it; we were hitting the ball like we have been all districts,” said manager Todd Dreby after the game, “”When we hit like that throughout the lineup, we’re tough to beat. Our defense is solid and we have good pitching.”

The bounce-back was made all the more special given some of the circumstances Newtown had encountered thus far. The night before the tournament began, Patrick McCafferty suffered an injury in the batting cages, resulting in numerous stitches above his eye. In their first game, Mateo Vilca took a grounder to the mouth. For this game, Patrick was back and Mateo has already had a chipped tooth fixed up and could return later in the tournament.

Now at nearly full strength, Newtown got to work against Frankie Revitt, who moved from catcher to starting pitcher in the elimination contest for Stroudsburg. Revitt got the best of his opponents in the first inning, fanning two and setting Newtown down in order.

It wouldn’t stay that way for long.

Declan McDonnell walked in the second inning, sandwiched around two more strikeouts from Revitt, who seemed to be cruising through the lineup. He then started to lose the strike zone. Casey Sanpietro took a ball off the ribs and jogged down to first base. Patrick McCafferty, in his first tournament action, singled through short, as Marinaro got a glove on the ball but couldn’t reel it in. With the bases loaded, Mike Antolino socked a ball to right that took a tough hop by the second baseman. Newtown was up 1-0. Santino Longo was a strikeout victim, as Revitt prevented further damage.

After Roberts retired Stroudsburg in order in the second, Newtown struck again. Greg Kniesel, from the bottom of the order, got an infield single on a slow roller to second base. As the lineup turned over, Kyle Dreby drove one into the right-center gap to put two in scoring position. Luke Fillmore, with his fifth postseason hit, smashed a ball to right that got by the fielder and bounced off the fence. Two runs scored and Fillmore also sped around the bases. However, he was ruled out at third base, having missed the bag, so only two runs counted. Still, Newtown had a 3-0 lead.

Council Rock tacked on again in the fourth when Casciano doubled to right, off the glove of Jalen Pluviose at second base. On two passed balls, Casciano came around to score and increase the lead to 4-0. Meanwhile, Stroudsburg got their best opportunity of the day in the fourth inning, loading the bases while still not recording a hit. On a full count pitch, Pluviose walked. Revitt hit into a fielders choice at third, but the toss to Dreby at second was mishandled. Nolan Smith got plunked to load them up with two outs for Jordan Volino. He swung on the second pitch he saw from new pitcher Mike Antolino, but Fillmore caught the flyball in left field to end the inning and keep Stroudsburg scoreless.

Newtown slammed the door in the sixth inning. With two on, one out, and a run already in, Owen Casciano came through with a no-doubter 3RBI home run to deep right.

“I got perfect contact. It looked like an off-speed pitch. I just waited on it and crushed it,” Casciano said of his big hit. He added, “”I was really mentally prepared–I just see the ball, hit the ball, and try to make perfect contact.”

Seven hits in the inning led to six more runs and while Antolino did surrender a hit to Dom Marinaro in the sixth, it was far too little too late for Stroudsburg, as they were eliminated from Section 6 contention.

“We played great defense and offense and we were just great today,” said Casciano of his team. He went on to give a lot of credit to his family, “”Give credit to my dad who has been working with me almost every day and I’m happy to be here and thankful that my dad is out here and my mom is here to support me.”

Dreby added, “Being with these boys for this long, it gets emotional with these kids. They’re great. To have your son out there, it brings a tear to your eye.”

Council Rock Newtown will have at least one more game in the tournament, as they take on Franklin Township in an elimination contest set for Monday night at 6:00.

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