Mathes, Micewski help Marple force showdown with Drexel Hill
ASTON » Owen Mathes is as trusted on the mound as he is when he’s at the plate.
In his team’s biggest game of the season, he was handed the ball and tasked with taking down the hottest team in the District 19 Little League Majors tournament.
From the first pitch of the game, Mathes was locked in and the pressure of playing in an elimination game against an undefeated winners bracket champ Drexel Hill did not faze him one bit.
Mathes gave up one run over six innings while striking out five in leading Marple Township to a 10-1 victory over Drexel Hill. The win avenged a loss for Marple in an early winners bracket game between the teams and sets up one more challenge for each of them - a winner-take-all final on Tuesday at Aston Middletown.
Mathes only gave up four hits and his only blemish was a solo home run to Drexel Hill shortstop Kevin McGonigle Jr. in the bottom of the third inning.
After surrendering that home run, Mathes did not allow a hit the rest of the way and did not allow Drexel Hill (4-1) to build any type of rhythm at the plate. Mathes was solid on the mound but he helped out his cause by hitting two home runs, a solo shot in the fifth which pushed the lead to 6-1 and a two-run blast in the sixth. Mathes was happy with the result of his performance and was fueled by the play of his teammates during this run.
“If our team does well, I do well,” Mathes said. “Everyone is picking each other up. Everyone is doing a great job.”
The play of centerfielder Jake Micewski may have helped Mathes ease into the game. Micewski launched a three-run homer in the first inning to get the scoring going, then hit his second long ball, a two-run blast, to give his team a 5-0 lead in the third. Micewski said having so many guys getting timely hits recently helped his confidence.
“I was just thinking about getting a hit,” he said. “I know if (I didn’t), the next guy will pick me up. It’s just about getting hits every time.”
Marple Township head coach Chip Mathes, whose team tallied 11 hits including five dingers, stressed that Micewski’s play gave his pitcher the boost he needed to get the win.
“Jake comes out, hits two home runs and gets everything going. Offensively, we go from there. He was the guy who got us going,” Chip Mathes said. “We played great defensively and (Owen) threw strikes. We’ve got one more to go.”
Drexel Hill, struggled to get to Mathes all game. McGonigle’s home run was not enough to shake Mathes and while the offense was stymied there was not much help on the mound. Pitcher CC Newman gave up five earned runs and walked three in just over two innings. He was relieved by Chris Zupito, who also surrendered five runs and allowed six hits.
Head coach Kevin McGonigle knows the undefeated run is over but his team still has an opportunity to finish goal.
“They have to turn the page from this game today and continue to play hard baseball,” the Drexel Hill coach said. “These kids have a lot of heart. They got beat up by a pretty good team tonight, but we’ll be back tomorrow night.”
The elder Mathes was pleased with his team putting out its tournament together a complete game but the only way the way to even the score with Drexel Hill will be to win the rubber match.
“Our guys know what they have to do,” he said. “We’re going to play our kind of baseball. It’s a 5050 game. Both teams are going to be coming out hard . ... It’s going to be about who wants it more.”