American Legion Tourney highlights
Norchester led by a run heading into the bottom of the seventh inning of Sunday night’s Region 2 winners’ bracket final at Bear Stadium. But things just did not go the Bulldogs’ way after that, including a hit batter to start the inning, a costly error and a sacrifice fly by Alex Oliver that gave undefeated South Parkland a 3-2 win.
Jon Hannevig and Ryan Sayers knocked in the runs and Brad Pryor pitched three scoreless innings in relief for the Bulldogs (297), who will play the Wanderers Monday at 4 p.m. A.J. Palumbo threw a sixhitter with six strikeouts for the Trojans (23-0), who will take on Souderton at 6:30 p.m.
“It was a really crisp, well-played game,” said Norchester manager Rick Harrison. “A few things just got away from us.”
The Trojans started the seventh with the hit batter, followed by a double to center by Gabe Stay. But the runner was caught in a rundown between third and home and tagged out. Stay advanced to third on the play and scored on a single by Joe Webber. An outfield error and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out and Oliver hit a fly to right to win it.
“Alex Oliver definitely came through at the end,” said Palumbo. “I told him to just launch it, we’ve got speed at third.”
Norchester took a 1-0 lead in the third on a leadoff single by Ryan Walker, an error on a pickoff attempt, a sacrifice bunt by Jarrett Cousens and a grounder to second by Hannevig.
Then Sayers singled in Sam Morris in the fourth for a 2-1 advantage and Pryor protected the lead over the next three innings while allowing only one hit.
“I was throwing strikes,” said Pryor. “I don’t throw hard, so I have to get ahead. I had my off-speed pitches working.”
“He pitched a fantastic three innings in relief,” said Harrison.
But Palumbo struck out a batter with two on to end the sixth and pitched a perfect seventh to keep his team in the game.
“I used the heat to my advantage tonight,” he said. “I noticed that my arm felt great and my velocity is usually higher when it’s hot. Definitely, my fastball was hotter tonight than usual. You’ve got to make the best of everything that’s going on instead of letting the heat kill you.”
“He was one of the better pitchers we’ve seen all year,” said Harrison. “He attacked the zone and challenged us with fastballs.”
With the loss, the Bulldogs now need to win three games in a row.
“I have a lot of faith in our team,” said Harrison. “We know we can play with any team in the tournament. We have to grind it out.”
“I’ve been with all of these guys since the beginning of the Owen J. Roberts season,” Pryor added. “We have confidence in all of the guys who are pitching.”