As the defending Pennsylvania American Legion state and Region 2 champion, the Quakertown baseball team has the respect of Lower Macungie manager Jeff Smith.
So, while Smith was disappointed his club lost 5-2 to Quakertown on Day 2 of the Region 2 tournament on Sunday night, he was also proud of the determination and effort his players put forth.
“They’re very good. They’re a polished team,” Smith said of manager Bob Helm’s Blue Jays.
“I’m very proud of our guys for hanging in there. We have nothing to hang our heads about. We showed up to play.”
The eight-team, double-elimination tournament continues on Monday with three contests, all to be played at Emmaus Community Park.
Quakertown will meet Perkiomen at 6 p.m. in a battle of Bux-Mont powers.
Both teams are 2-0 and assured of playing on Day 4 of the five-day event. Sunday’s winners were Quakertown, Perkiomen, Northampton and Wanderers.
Kutztown and Reading both were eliminated from the tournament on Day 2.In Sunday’s finale of four games in Emmaus, Quakertown scored a run in the top of the first inning against the host Lower Macungie team and the Blue Jays never trailed. But they could never feel completely comfortable, either.
That’s because of the strong performance turned in by Lower Macungie starter Drew McGeehan.
McGeehan, who will be a senior at Emmaus High School this year, allowed five hits (all singles) and did not yield an earned run in six innings of work. The left-hander walked one and struck out five.
Josiah Williams relieved McGeehan in the seventh and allowed an unearned run.
“You look at him, he doesn’t seem like anything special,” Smith said of McGeehan. “But Drew is a crafty lefty and he is a gamer. He won’t overwhelm you, but he gets the job done.”
Quakertown scored single runs in the first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
Cooper Natisin was 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Blue Jays. Joshua Camacho scored twice. Peyton Meyers pitched a complete game for Quakertown. He struck out four and walked two.
Colin Wilson, batting leadoff, went 3-for-3 with a double for Lower Macungie. Dwayne Schmidt had a hit and two RBIs.
Monday’s elimination games are Northampton-North Parkland at 12 p.m., and Lower Macungie-Wanderers at 3 p.m.
“I told my team the same thing I’ve said all tournament,” said Smith, who was still uncertain who would start Monday’s game. “Go out and play baseball and have fun. We’ve absolutely shown everyone we belong here. Now we want to keep playing well.”
Perkiomen 14, North Parkland 8
Jack Schramm went 5-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Jackson Long drove in four runs and Brayden Adam scored four runs to propel Perkiomen in a 2-hour, 54-minute winner’s bracket semifinal marathon that featured 13 walks, 12 errors, 23 hits and 22 runs scored.
North Parkland, the Lehigh Valley League champions, led 5-1 after two innings but the Buffaloes’ advantage was quickly erased when the Indians scored five times in the top of the third.
Perkiomen led the rest of the way.
“We got off to the good start,” North Parkland manager Jay Marakovits said, “but we started to lose some of that momentum and things snowballed on us a bit and got out of hand. We didn’t play a clean game at all.”
Nate Unger went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and four RBIs to pace North Parkland.
Marakovits said on Saturday that Unger, who was 2-0 with one hit allowed and 14 strikeouts in the Buffaloes’ league tournament, would start Sunday’s game. He said he reconsidered and opted to save Unger for Day 3.
Chase Whittaker started for North Parkland, with Dave Sepko and Peyton Schreff pitching in relief.
“We decided we would take a bit of a gamble,” Marakovits said. “We were planning on using him as our closer to maximize his use in the tournament. If he threw fewer than 20 pitches today, we could get two games out of him instead of one. It didn’t work out that way.”
North Parkland will take on Northampton in a Lehigh Valley vs. NorCo showdown on Day 3, with the winner moving on and the loser headed home.Unger will start on the mound, Marakovits said.
“Our guys know things get a little simpler after you lose the first game. One more loss and your season’s over,” Marakovits said. “That changes your mindset. We don’t have to worry about pitch counts as much.”
Wanderers 9, Kutztown 0
JJ Cruz pitched five shutout innings, and Zander Frey stayed hot at the plate with two hits and three RBIs as Northampton County League champion Wanderers bounced back about 18 hours after a one-run defeat on Day 1 to stay alive in the tournament.
Wanderers scored a run in the top of the first inning and added on in the later innings to remain in control throughout.
A key reason for the comfortable win was the work of Cruz.
Cruz had a hit and scored two runs at the plate, and yielded four hits and did not issue a walk on the mound. The left-hander struck out one.
Adam Unangst pitched two hitless innings in relief to close out the victory.“JJ threw really, really well,” Wanderers manager Paul Walsh said, “and we got to get him out early enough so in the event we reach the championship game, we’d have him and [Paul] Erfle both available to pitch again.
“And Unangst did exactly what needed him to do, throw strikes. He’s available later in the tournament, too.”
Jacob Rivera and Frey had two hits apiece for Wanderers. Rivera scored two runs and drove in one. Frey was 2-for-4 with two doubles and the three RBIs.Frey, batting eighth in the lineup, is now 4-for-7 in the tournament.
“This tends to happen at regionals. Someone shows up in a way you’re not expecting,” Walsh said. “Zander’s really helped us in the bottom of the order in a way we didn’t anticipate. He’ll start tomorrow, and he’ll hit for himself.”
Colin Hamm went 2-for-3 for Kutztown, the Berks County League champion.
Northampton 7, Reading 0
The Konkrete Kids received the forfeit victory (7-0 is the official score) to advance to Day 3 of the tournament.
Reading arrived at Emmaus Community Park on Sunday without the required nine players to field a team and was forced to forfeit, according to Region 2 tournament director Chris Medei.
Reading, of the Berks County League, lost to Quakertown 10-0 in five innings on Saturday.
Michael Blouse is a freelance writer
Source: Berkshire mont