NETHER PROVIDENCE — After nearly 14 straight scoreless innings stretching back to the start of Tuesday’s game against Garnet Valley, Strath Haven finally broke through when it mattered most.
The Panthers walked it off in style Wednesday afternoon, rallying late for a much-needed, 3-2 extra-inning win over Lower Merion.
Quinn Kell delivered the game-winning blow, lining a single to deep center with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.
It was the kind of win the Panthers badly needed, given their recent offensive struggles. And to do it against Lower Merion’s Jack Heck — who was dominant through six-plus innings before finally wearing down — made it even sweeter. Something had to give.
Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, after Gus Wright broke up a scoreless affair with a solo homer off Caden Shuster, Strath Haven (5-3, 5-2) scratched across the tying run. Matt Caputo led off the inning with a single, and Preston Jensen came on to run. Alex Selverian’s RBI single up the middle chases Jensen home, sending the game into extras.
In the top of the eighth, Lower Merion (6-3, 5-2) went back in front. Brendan O’Gara sent a towering opposite-field shot deep into the trees beyond the left-field fence, giving the Aces a 2-1 edge. He punctuated it with an emphatic bat flip … a little too emphatic, apparently, as he was ejected for excessive celebration.
But the Panthers had more fight left in them. Patrick O’Connor reached on an error to start the bottom half, and Wolf Boswick followed with a well-placed sac bunt that Lower Merion couldn’t handle, putting two aboard with no outs. Shuster, down 0-2, was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
That brought up leadoff man Ben Milligan, who ripped an RBI single to left to tie the game. With the Panthers playing station-to-station, Caputo followed and grounded into a force at home.
With two on and one away, Kell stepped in and didn’t miss his pitch, smoking a 1-1 offering to center to bring home Shuster and give the Panthers a walk-off win.
“Throughout the inning you saw guys putting together good at bats and finding a way to get on,” Kell said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but pressure is a virtue and you use it as motivation. In practice we are always doing situations, like man on third and less than two outs. I was just looking to drive the ball into the outfield.”
It was Kell’s first walk-off as a high school player.
“That’s a great team over there and it’s a great win for us,” he said. “We’re hoping this gives us the confidence to really get the bats going.”
Shuster may have surrendered a pair of long balls, but he also struck out six in his three innings of work to earn the win in relief. He followed a strong start by Jasper Hals, who tossed five scoreless frames, scattering just two hits while also fanning six.
Together they managed to match the effort of Lower Merion’s ace, left-hander Heck, who was sharp through six innings. Heck needed only 79 pitches to carve through a free-swinging Strath Haven lineup that struggled to make consistent contact. The Panthers didn’t manage a baserunner until Selverian broke up the perfect game with an infield single in the fifth inning.
Pitching has been the calling card for Strath Haven this season. Earlier in the spring, the Panthers tossed back-to-back no-hitters. And while they’re currently without their ace, All-Delco and Boston College commit Luke D’Ancona, who’s sidelined with an injury, the rest of the staff is stepping up in a big way.
Hopefully Wednesday’s late-inning magic sparks the bats the rest of the way and gives the Panthers’ stellar pitching staff the steady run support it deserves.
“We’re a team right now that is only scoring runs in like, one inning. It’s been a struggle for us,” coach Brian Fili said. “And a lot of times I feel like that’s a lack of focus. I told them that when we got down in the count early in the game, we weren’t battling at all. That changed at the end of the game. I know (Heck) was getting tired, but if you noticed there was a lot more foul balls and our bats got more competitive, they got longer. They became six- and seven-pitch at bats. Selverian and Caputo has big at bats just fouling off balls and staying alive. We didn’t do any of that early on. That just gives the guys a little more confidence and you could see the difference the last two innings.”
Elsewhere in the Central League:
Marple Newtown 5, Garnet Valley 3 >> After a rocky start, Tigers right-hander Jack Maholick found his rhythm on the mound. He gave up three runs through the first two innings but blanked the Jaguars (4-5) over the next four, finishing with five strikeouts to earn the win.
Marple Newtown (4-4) responded after falling behind 3-0, plating five runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good. Justin DiSantis delivered the game-tying RBI single, and John Matthews followed with the go-ahead knock.
Maholick went 2-for-3 with a double. Mike Murray chipped in two hits and an RBI.
For Garnet Valley, Nolan Carroll, Cole Lombardo (two RBIs), Kyle Klein and Ryan McGhee each collected a pair of hits.
Haverford 7, Penncrest 2 >> Gavin McClafferty fanned eight over six innings as the Fords (10-0) stayed unbeaten.
Nishan Elvanian roped a pair of doubles and drove in two runs, Ryan Cassidy singled twice and Shane Durkan tripled and scored two runs. Sam Sturman had a single and two RBIs.
Nash Grant homered for the Lions (3-5).
Springfield 3, Upper Darby 1 >> Denny Monastra scattered one run on five hits and struck out six over six innings to get the win for the Cougars (2-6). Sean O’Reilly ripped an RBI triple and Danny Meakim added a run-scoring single.
Jack Trask went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Royals (1-9).
Radnor 6, Ridley 3 >> Ryan McWilliams piled up 11 K’s in 5.2 innings as the Raptors (6-1) dealt the Green Raiders (3-6) their fifth consecutive loss.
Joe Krasowski (two RBIs) and Teddy Monahan both collected two hits for Radnor. Matt Szychulski smacked a run-scoring triple.
Aiden Wong had two hits and two RBIs for the Green Raiders.
