SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWNS
North Penn, GA, Methacton, PJP II aim to reach tournament title game
North Penn’s 2013 squad looks to knock off the top seed while a pair of PAC rivals from 2014 clash in The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media Baseball Team of the Decade Tournament semifinals.
Voting in the two matchups to determine the title game continues through noon Saturday on The Reporter Sports’ twitter account @ReporterSports.
In one semifinal, fifth-seeded ’13 North Penn, which won the PIAA Class 4A title, meets No. 1 2010 PAISAA champ Germantown Academy while in the other
District 1-4A champ 2014 Methacton takes on PIAA-3A winner 2014 Pope John Paul II.
After just edging No. 12 2014 Hatboro-Horsham in the opening round (51.1% to 48.9%), the ’13 Knights knocked off a fellow state champ in the quarterfinals, besting No. 4 2012 La Salle 59.2% to 40.8%.
North Penn’s next task is bouncing a top-seeded ’10 Patriots squad that went 29-3, but the 2013 NP side showed it could come through at the right time.
The 12th and last seed in the North in the ’13 District 1-4A field, North Penn pulled off three upsets to reach the semifinals and clinch a PIAA berth.
After consecutive defeats to finish fourth in districts, the Knights never lost again – getting shutout performances from right-hander Brian Maher against Parkland in the first round and Pennridge in the semis while rolling to an 11-1 win over District 1 champ Coatesville in the quarters.
In the state final, North Penn erased Lower Dauphin’s 3-0 lead with a fiverun bottom of the fifth. The District 3 champs rallied to force extra innings at 5-5 but the Knights won the program’s second state crown in the bottom of the ninth when Eddie Posavec scored from second base on Bobby Scott’s walk-off single for the 6-5 victory.
2010 Germantown Academy, meanwhile, has so far avoided the upsets that have befallen most of the tournament’s higher seeds. The Patriots got past No. 16 Archbishop Wood 59.7% to 40.3% in the first round then beat No. 9 2013 Upper Moreland 56.7% to 43.3%.
GA, which had state Gatorade Player of the Year Sean Coyle in its 2010 lineup, finished that season ranked eighth in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper national poll and 18th in the Maxpreps Xcellent 25 national rankings.
Along with Coyle – who committed to North Carolina before signing with Boston Red Sox after getting taken in the third round of the MLB Draft – pitcher Keenan Kish (Florida) and infielder Dan Hoy (Princeton) and Mike Fitzgerald (Northeastern) were all named All-InterAc first team selections.
GA cruised to the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) title, outscoring its four opponents in the tournament 52-5, the impressive run capped by a 14-4 victory over Germantown
Friends in the final.
2014 Methacton is the Cinderella of the Team of the Decade tournament, the 14th-seeded Warriors defeated two state champs – No. 3 2019 Souderton (59.1% to 40.1%) and No. 6 2014 La Salle (58.2% to 41.8%) to reach the semis and face familiar foe in ’14 Pope John Paul II.
Methacton and PJP II met three times on the diamond in 2014, the PAC squads splitting their two regular-season contests before the Warriors beat the Panthers 1-0 in the PAC championship game. Methacton scored the contest’s lone run on a close play at the plate in the top of the seventh inning while John Wiedmayer tossed a two-hit shutout.
After claiming its first PAC title, the Warriors proceeded to win its first District 1 title, finishing on top of the Class 4A field with its fourth straight upset – North No. 7 Methacton beating North No. 2 Boyertown 7-3 in the championship game.
Methacton blanked District 12 runner-up George Washington 4-0 in the PIAA first round before having its run halted by another PAC squad SpringFord 3-2 in the quarters.
Pope John Paul II started its run to the Team of the Decade final four with a 52%-48% win over No. 10 2018 La Salle then upset second-seeded 2015 North Penn 53.4% to 46.6%.
After falling to Methacton in the ’14 PAC final, the Golden Panthers did not lose another game – winning three games to claim the District 1-3A title then another four to capture the school’s first PIAA championship.
PJP topped Harriton in the district and state finals, edging the Rams 3-2 in districts then winning 4-2 for state gold after breaking a 2-2 tie in bottom of the sixth when Luke DeLeo hit an RBI triple then scored on an error on the play.