Golden Bears Rally to Claim First District Title in School History

 As cliché as it sounds to say that “history would be made” as the PIAA District 1 class AAA championship game got under way, truer words could not be uttered.

Pope John Paul II, in its first year as a school, has been riding the wave of the “new school spirit” since its inception in September. The school has melded two student bodies into one cohesive force to be reckoned with, and as a new school, it had yet to win a District 1 title.

Even though there are many district trophies in the school's showcase, Upper Moreland had yet to win a district title in baseball despite the school’s long history, which included a state baseball championship in 1979.

 “I think that our guys were confident coming in here today,” said Golden Bears skipper Ernie Rehr. “I do think that the adrenaline got the best of us early as we were to aggressive at the plate and getting ourselves out chasing bad pitches. Once we settled in and had good at bats things started to go our way.”

Evans got it done early for PJP2 as he mowed through the Golden Bears lineup the first time through the order, allowing just one Upper Moreland base runner in the first three innings, a lead off double off the bat of Robert Knox.

PJP2, 13-8 overall, drew first blood as Tyler Mikell, who led off the third inning by crushing a triple to deepest part of the park, raced home with the first run as Bob Barth grounded the ball to the left side of the infield.

The Golden Panthers tacked on another when Paul Mills drilled a ball to the fence in dead center field, scoring AJ Koscelansky, who singled.

In the previous at bat, Evans (2-for-3) tried to help his own cause, blasting a single in the gap, giving PJP2 a chance to have an additional tally but Alex Romberger, who was running for Anthony Carr was tug out at the plate as catcher Dave McInerney stayed with the play applying the tag even after Romberger had avoided his first swipe.

“Today wasn’t our day,” said Evans. “I guess in a week or so, I will look back and think about what a great year we had, but right now, it sucks. We had one of those days where hit the ball hard, just right at people, and they were getting balls to drop in everywhere. It was a little frustrating.”

The Golden Bears (16-3) evened the score in the top of fourth, taking advantage of two bloop base hits off the bats of Sean Valenza and Ryan Snyder, before designated hitter Charlie Hooker ripped a two-out base knock back through the middle scoring both, but got gunned down trying to stretch it into a double when Carr took the throw home and threw a strike to Koscelansky covering the bag.

After tacking on a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Knox, which scored Mike Janas (3-for-4, two runs,  two RBIs) to give starter Kyle Walder a one-run cushion as he settled in on the mound.

“They were really aggressive early,” said UM junior Walder. “They were really making good contact on anything close to the middle, so I started trying to hit the corners, I was getting the calls, and they didn’t seem to be able to have as good of swings, so I kept it there.”

The Golden panthers sent six men to the plate in the fifth, but failed to score as Walder was able to get Sal DiPrinzio to foul out just inside the fence with the bases juiced to end the inning.

Evans and PJP2’s Waterloo was the top of the sixth, where the Golden Bears started the inning with seeing-eye singles before Mike Janas delivered the biggest blow of the game with a two-out, two RBI single to give UM a 5-2 lead and essentially end the Golden Panthers bid for a district title, as Walder had settled in to a rythm.

“We were out in front early in the game,” said Janas. “He (Evans) had great control and was getting us out on pitches that weren’t even strikes. We talked about staying back on the ball, and then we started getting some ball to fall in, as well.”

In a microcosm of the entire game, the Golden Panthers final rally was quashed before it got started as A.J. Koscelansky, who led off the fifth with a single, was doubled off at first base when Paul Mills crushed a 3-2 fastball like a laser that found the glove of leftfielder Knox, who in turn, threw a strike to first baseman Janas, completing the twin killing.

“That was a perfect example of how our day went,” said PJP2 manager Tom Sergio. “Paul doesn’t strike out very often, so we were sending A.J. on 3-2, and it was an easy double play, even though Paul killed the ball. It’s juts how it went. It’s frustrating to see our guys hit the ball well right at people and watch them score on balls that drop in behind us.”

Upper Moreland posted two more runs in their final at bat on a one-out, two-run single by Matt Kohn to close out the scoring and clinch the first district baseball title in school history.

“This is unbelievable,” said UM manager Ernie Rehr, in his fourth year. “We have a lot of district trophies in our case at school, but no baseball hardware, even though they had a state championship in the 70s. These kids have not quit all year, and this was a goal we set in the beginning of the year. And hey, now we have to get ready for states, wow.”

“I think they came into the game with more energy than we did,” said PJP2 starter Jeff Evans.  “We were a little flat, and they took full advantage of it. I don’t think I had the pop on fastball I needed today against a good hitting team like that.”

Next up for the Golden Bears is a date in the PIAA state tourney, where they will face District 11 champion Blue Mountain High School on Monday. 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Upper Moreland (16-3

0

0

0

2

1

4

2

9

13

1

Pope John Paul II  (13-7)

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

2

8

1

Upper Moreland

AB

R

H

RBI

Pope John Paul II

AB

R

H

RBI

Knox lf

2

0

1

2

DiPrinzio cf

4

0

0

0

Valenza ss

3

1

1

1

Koscelanky ss/2b

4

1

1

0

McInerney c

4

1

1

0

Mills 3b

3

0

1

1

Snyder 2b

3

3

2

0

Zbyszinski dh

2

0

1

0

Cripps 3b

3

1

1

0

Carr c

3

0

1

0

Hooker dh

3

0

1

2

DiGenova 1b

3

0

1

0

Kohn cf

3

1

1

2

Evans  p  ss

3

0

2

0

Janas 1b

4

2

3

2

Mikell  lf

2

1

1

0

Lockard rf

4

0

2

0

Barth 2b  p

2

0

0

1

Totals

29

9

13

9

Totals

26

2

8

2

IP

R

ER

H

SO

BB

Walder  (W)

7

2

2

8

2

2

Evans  (L)

5.6

7

5

8

1

1

Fazzini

0

0

0

1

0

2

Barth

1.3

2

2

3

0

1

2B-Knox, Janas, Mills,  3B-Mikell    HR- none       LOB- UM-6     PJP2- 6