Palisades stuns No. 3 Saucon Valley
Jaden Newton, a junior two-sport standout at Palisades, knew all of the facts and figures.
His Pirates were picked for last place in the Colonial League’s East Division. His Pirates were seeded sixth in the six-team tournament and were 0-7 vs. other playoff teams, including 0-2 against Friday’s opponent — Saucon Valley.
Newton and his baseball buddies went out and changed that narrative in a big way.
Palisades overpowered the No. 3 seed Panthers 12-1 in a quarterfinal-round clash played at Saucon Valley, with Newton starring on the mound and at the plate. He struck out eight in 6 ⅓ innings of one-run ball and went 4-for-4 at-bat with three runs scored and three RBIs.
“We wanted to shock the whole league
today, not only Saucon Valley but the whole league,” said Newton, who plays quarterback on the football field.
It was a dominant performance. Coach Gary Koenig’s Pirates banged out 17 hits, stole eight bases and scored a dozen runs. Upstart Palisades (13-5) advances to play second-seeded Notre Dame-Green Pond (16-4) in Monday’s semifinal set for 4:30 p.m. in Bethlehem Township.
The Colonial League final is scheduled for Wednesday at Saucon Valley.
Palisades pounced on the Panthers from the start Friday.
Kyle McGrath, the Pirates’ leadoff batter, singled and stole second in the top of the first inning. He came home on Newton’s RBI single. John DeNato delivered the biggest blow of the rally — a run-scoring triple (that was misjudged) to center field. Chase Kimball plated a third run with a sacrifice fly.
Of Palisades’ 17 hits, 16 were singles and three came on perfectly executed bunts.
The Pirates, who lost to Saucon Valley 5-2 for the second time this season on Wednesday, scored four times in the fourth frame and the final two runs touched home on safety squeezes that went for singles. Kimbil and Wyatt Harrar laid down the bunts.
“We work on that stuff in the fall and all winter,” Koenig said. “We really push those fundamentals and it worked today.”
Newton was the game’s undisputed star but there were plenty of key contributors.
McGrath had himself a day, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and a stolen base. He reached base all five times he batted. Will Guthier also went 3-for-3. Guthier scored twice, stole two bases and reached base four times.
“We really wanted to blow them out,” Newton said. “But this was a playoff game; we expected it to be close.
“We’ve been struggling on and off with our hitting this season. We’ve had some big games but it wasn’t really against the good teams like Saucon Valley. We were 0-7 against playoff teams. We finally got one.”
As far as his own performance was concerned, Newton was most impressed with the total team effort.
“I wasn’t really paying attention to the strikeouts or the hits,” he said. “I just wanted to do the job every time I got up there.”
Saucon Valley coach Gary Laub said that despite his team’s 15-3 record entering play and its No. 3 seed, his Panthers haven’t been at their best of late.
And they struggled on the mound, in the field and on the bases in their playoff game. Austin Strunk finished with two of the team’s five hits.
“We had a good roll early in the year,” Laub said, “then we had a two-week stretch where we played two or three games and it was tough to get back to the level we were at. We kind of muddled through it.
“You saw today’s effort. They were the better team today. We didn’t get the key hits, we didn’t make the key plays and I was real disappointed with the whole bunt coverage thing.”
Saucon Valley now prepares for the District 11 Class 4A tournament.
Palisades, meanwhile, now prepares for Monday’s league semifinal showdown with Notre Dame, which earned a bye into the final four.
The Pirates lost to the Crusaders twice during the season, 7-4 on March 26 and 6-1 on April 28.
“They’re a very good team. We’re going to have to play a game like today to beat them or to compete with them,” said a cautious Koenig.
“We feel pretty confident,” said an optimistic Newton. “We’re humble at the same time, too. We’ll be ready.”