Perk Valley runs out of comebacks in season-ending loss to Tigers

Both Marple Newtown and Perkiomen Valley knew continuation of the 2016 baseball season was on the line.

The Central League Tigers and Vikings from the Pioneer Athletic Conference collided on Perkiomen Valley’s diamond Tuesday afternoon in a fifth-place playback semifinal to determine District 1’s final qualifier for the PIAA tournament.

Marple Newtown (17-7) bunched five runs in the first four innings, and then the Tigers kept the host Vikings at bay to head back to Newtown Square with a 5-2 victory and the Tigers’ season still alive.

They meet Spring-Ford, a 9-0 winner over Upper Dublin in the other playback, Thursday to decide the fifth and final spot for the upcoming state tourney.

Cameron Mathes pitched a full seven innings and yielded only single runs in the second and fifth innings while striking out six and walking none.

Perkiomen Valley did not play its normal game overall in a pivotal spot. The Vikings’ fine season came to a close at 18-6 overall after a 15-3 second-place finish in the PAC-10.

Ricky Collings finished 3-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in to headline the offense that supported Mathes’ outstanding pitching effort. Scott Hahn knocked in a pair of runs with a first-inning sacrifice fly RBI and fourth-inning single to center field.

Marple Newtown, the ninth seed in the tournament, bounced back from a difficult 13-9 loss to Pennridge in its last outing while ousting fourth-seeded Perkiomen Valley.

Despite some struggles this season for Collings, he kept a positive attitude and came up with the goods against PV.

“I’m just trying to take the most of what I can from high school baseball,” Collings said. “I’m just trying to make it as fun as possible, and having fun is winning games.”

The victory extended the career of the Widener University-bound Collings alive.

Mathes appreciated the early lead the Tigers got him at the outset and then just kept the mindset of throwing strikes the rest of the game. He combined a fastball, curveball and an effective changeup to limit Perkiomen Valley to seven hits.

There is a winning baseball tradition in that area of Delaware County, where the Broomall-New town feeder programis also reputable for its vintage success. That type of baseball provided the foundation for the Marple Newtown program, which has enjoyed its own brand of success at the scholastic level, now under the guidance of head coach Steve Smith.

Alden Mathes had a single and two runs scored out of the leadoff position for the Tigers. Corey Woodcock added a 2-for-2 day out of the No. 9 slot. Reilly Fillman belted a twoout triple to the right-center field gap in the seventh innings, but he was stranded there.

Perkiomen Valley starting pitcher Brock Helverson struggled with his control and lasted just 2 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits and three earned runs while hitting four batters with two strikeouts and one walk. Perkiomen Valley coach Ryan Hinkle was glad relievers Dylan Boyd and Tyler Strechay provided some solid relief work to help keep the game tight and the score close.

Boyd hurled the middle 1 2/3 innings and Strechay completed the final three frames. As Hinkle pointed out, it was still valuable experience because all three of those pitchers will return for the 2017 campaign.

Perkiomen Valley senior center fielder and leadoff batter Sean Moriarity enjoyed a banner day in what turned out to be the last game of his memorable athletic career at PV. He ended the afternoon 3-for-4 with one run scored. Moriarity hustled to record an infield hit to shortstop in his first at-bat, singled to left field in the third and singled to left-center and scored on an RBI hit by Nate Yoder in the fifth.

Moriarity also ran down everything hit his way to center field, including a stellar diving catch that robbed Brian Reynolds of a hit in the fifth inning.

“He (Cameron Mathes) kept us off balance,” said Moriarity, who is headed to West Point. “He got the first pitch in for a strike. We weren’t aggressive. We hit a lot of balls hard at people. We couldn’t get the ball to drop like other games.”

Hinkle said playing catchup baseball has also been customary for the Vikings this year.

“We always play frombehind,” said Hinkle. “That has been our MO every game. We fall behind and come from behind. It’s tough to play from behind in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning of a district playoff game. It is mentally exhausting.”

Hinkle still talked about the great strides Perkiomen Valley has taken during his four years at the helm, which has put themon the cusp of great heights. The Vikings hope to do even better going forward.