Norchester loses to Souderton in tourney
Berks champ Norchester ends spectacular summer with 4-1 loss to powerful Souderton
BOYERTOWN >> Norchester had its scoring opportunities on Tuesday night and hung in its game against Souderton all the way, bringing the tying run to home plate in the top of the seventh inning.
But the Bulldogs could not get a big hit when they needed one, and their season came to an end with a 4-1 loss in the American Legion Baseball Pennsylvania Region 2 Tournament at Bear Stadium.
Norchester (30-8) went 3-2 in the tournament and finished in third place. Souderton (22-3) played for the championship and a spot in the state tournament Wednesday against South Parkland but the Lehigh Valley champions took home the title with a 3-0 win in the championship.
“I felt we were in the game until the very end,” said Norchester manager Rick Harrison. “I felt we were going to pull it out.”
Trailing 4-1 in the seventh, Jake Iyoob led off with a walk and Berks County MVP Sam Morris (3for-4) singled with one out. The next two batters went down on
a pop to first and a strikeout against Post 234 reliever Conlan Wall.
Souderton, the BuxMont League regular season and playoff champion with many players from the PIAA Class 6A championship team, scored one in the first on two walks and a two-out single by Moses Clemens. They added two in the third on singles and steals by Aaron Groller and Wall and a two-out, tworun line drive single to center by Frank Pollock.
Berks champion Norchester stranded two runners in the first, one in the second and two more in the fourth. Then the Bulldogs broke through in the fifth, scoring on a hit batter, a passed ball and a single by Iyoob combined with an outfield error. Singles by Jordan Siket and Morris loaded the bases with one out, but Souderton starter Jake Horton (5 2/3’s innings pitched, 9 strikeouts before reaching the 105-pitch limit) fanned the next two batters. The Bulldogs wound up with 10 men left on base and 11 strikeouts.
Siket, the Bulldogs’ regular catcher, pitched the first five innings and Iyoob threw a scoreless sixth. BuxMont MVP Groller and Pollock each had two hits.
Norchester advanced earlier in the day by defeating the Wanderers 7-1 in eight innings in the completion of a suspended game and Souderton knocked off undefeated (for the season and the tournament) South Parkland 7-0 on a three-hitter by Luke Taylor.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Harrison, whose team had defeated Souderton 3-0 in the second round and dropped a heart-breaker in the winners’ bracket final when South Parkland scored two in the bottom of the seventh. “We came out and competed. All I’m going to do is look at the tournament with a positive outlook.”
“We just didn’t have the depth of pitching,” said Siket. “I gave it my all. Sometimes it just isn’t enough. I’m not going to say we surprised people, but we gave people a show this season. That’s for sure.”
Dan Stofko, Norchester’s starting pitcher in the opening round, finished with three Berks championships in four years and three trips deep into the Region 2 Tournament.
“I think the talent was what we expected it to be,” he said. “I think this is the best one we’ve played in. We can say we did everything we could.”