Garnet Valley hits a Wall
HARLEYSVILLE » Shanley Wall’s mighty swing to lead off Souderton’s fifth at-bat powered Big Red into the lead for good.
“That felt great,” Wall said of his solo shot over the 361-foot sign in right center. “I had been struggling recently, trying to get back into a groove. And that one felt great, to provide a spark for the team.”
Wall’s homer started a five-run fifth for No. 4 Souderton, as Big Red broke a tie and pulled away to a 6-2 victory on a steaming Tuesday afternoon at the Harleysville Community Center.
The win brought Big Red within one win of states. Souderton squares off on Thursday against No. 2 Hatboro-Horsham for the final spot.
“I feel like we’re always a threat with the bats,” Wall said of the pivotal fifth, “because one through nine, we’re always ready to hit. And I think we can always do damage in that situation.”
A tremendous season for No. 6 Garnet Valley came to a close. Right hander Ryan Wootten pitched well for the Jaguars through the first four innings, with the game deadlocked at one apiece, but Souderton broke it open.
“We had been struggling to generate runs,” Big Red coach Mike Childs said. “We had been struggling to hit with two strikes. We did start off like that today. We came into the dugout, and said, ‘Look, we just have to relax and start swinging the bats.’ Shanley comes up and hits a home run to spark the whole team.”
McKenna’s double was followed by an error by the Jags and an RBI single by Carter Jagiela, making it 3-1.
Justin Dicesare singled, Kreig Pierce drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-1, and Andrew Schatz knocked in another run to widen the gap to 5-1. A ground ball by Kaden Pasternak extended the margin to 6-1 Big Red.
And that was more than enough for Big Red starter Will McCausland.
The right hander went the distance in the 90-plus-degree heat, limiting Garnet Valley to two runs (one earned) off two hits while racking up 13 strikeouts and walking three.
McCausland slammed the door shut in the seventh, retiring the Jags in order, including back-to-back strikeouts to end it.
“The third time through their lineup, they started sitting on some pitches,” Jaguars coach Rudy Shiller said. “(Wall) sat on a change-up and puts it over the fence, and you tip your hat to that kid, and then (McKenna) hits a double into the gap. So they really started hitting the ball good. And you can’t give (McCausland) a five-run lead. He’s that good.
“These are great kids,” Shiller said of his squad. “At the beginning of the year, we struggled defensively, but by the end of the year, we really had tightened things up. The kids really came together and started believing in one another, and played really hard against some really good competition.”