Pine Forge falls in PA state title game
Indians move on to Mid-Atlantic Regional
PINE FORGE » Much like their stadium during the later innings, the Pine Forge Senior Babe Ruth baseball team ran out of power on Monday afternoon.
With skies darkening and a storm rumbling in the distance, the scoreboard at Douglass Field lost power during the sixth inning. That didn’t matter all that much, though, as West End starter Isaac Snyder kept the Indians off the board with a complete-game one-hitter on the way to picking up a 2-0 win during the Pennsylvania State Senior Babe Ruth championship game.
“He pounded the zone,” said Pine Forge skipper Richard Zuber of Snyder. “If you watched this guy — he had first pitch strikes against I bet well over half of the batters he faced. That’s the same thing we teach our kids.”
Snyder landed 20 first-pitch strikes against 24 of the batters he faced while striking out eight and walking just two.
“This is good for us. I told the guys, this is what we’ll see at Mid-Atlantics,” Zuber said. “Even though we lost, this was a real, real important game for us to get ready.”
The afternoon tilt was a complete 180-degree spin from Pine Forge’s morning game where they racked up 11 hits on the way to an 11-0 five-inning rout of Twin Valley in the championship play-in round. Barrett Dunkelberger threw a completegame one-hitter while striking out nine Twin Valley hitters.
With that win, the Indians secured
themselves a place at this week’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament for the third year in a row — their sixth trip overall — as the state’s top two finishers move on.
“We knew what we had to do,” said Zuber, “and we knew we’d have to get on them (Twin Valley) right from the start.”
Unfortunately, Pine Forge’s offense ran out of power against West End. Catcher Nick Chroscinski had Pine Forge’s lone hit on the afternoon — a single back up the middle during the top of the second inning.
Right-hander Logan Mabry was plenty effective on the bump for the Indians. He pitched six solid innings where he was tagged for two runs on five hits.
West End left fielder Cam Pardoe welcomed him with a solo home run during the bottom of the first inning before Tyler McCann added an insurance run in the bottom of the second with an RBI single to left to score Ryan Jolin.
That was about all the offense either team would put together during the combined six-hit game.
“That’s your ballgame right there,” said West End head coach Tory Shimp after describing both runscoring plays. “It was a pitchers’ duel — both of those guys were pitching great games. It was great baseball. Really good to see, especially on this stage.”
The PA State Championship is just yet another notch on West End’s already impressive belt during their climb through the ranks.
The team won the state title during their run at ages 13, 14 and 15, then took the title after joining Big League last season.
“It’s the same core group that we’ve always had,” said Shimp. “I’m really impressed with our group of kids. They constantly work hard and want to get better. Just roll the ball out there and let them play.”
Pine Forge’s run through the state playoffs was almost unheard of.
After opening the tournament with a 5-4 loss against Bucks, the Indians plowed their way through the losers’ bracket with a 2-0 win over Caln Sunday morning followed by a revenge-fueled 8-2 win over Bucks that afternoon.
“Losing the opening game, you know you’ve automatically got to go five (games),” said Zuber. “(West End) had to go three games, we had to go five. So we knew we had to get to this game. I applaud my players for getting us here.
“We’re the only team in the area to qualify for MidAtlantics three years in a row,” he went on. “People think Pine Forge is out in the boondocks, which it partially is, but they have to start realizing that we are the team in Boyertown. We’re not second fiddle to anyone.”
The Mid-Atlantic tournament got underway Thursday in Mount Olive, NJ.