Pine Forge falls to Pottstown Spartans
PINE FORGE >> With two runners on in the sixth inning, Pottstown cleanup hitter Tyler Hibbs took a healthy swing at the first pitch he saw from Pine Forge pitcher Nate Kline and missed.
He shook his head and smiled as he readjusted himself in the batter’s box knowing he had tried to do too much with the offering. After Kline painted the outside corner with a fastball on the next pitch, Hibbs found himself down 0-2.
With the count not in his favor, Kline hung a curveball and the Spartans’ center fielder didn’t miss this time, blasting a three-run homer over the center-field fence. The shot gave Pottstown a tworun lead that proved to be the difference in a 4-3 victory over Pine Forge June 20 at Douglass Township Complex.
“First pitch I overswung a little bit,” Hibbs said. “Second pitch I wasn’t ready, and he painted the outside corner. Third pitch I was ready, and I saw a curveball hanging. I just took it and drilled it.”
Aside from the three-run homer, Kline was sharp for the Indians on the mound. He was perfect through the game’s first four innings and allowed only three hits over seven innings of work in addition to 10 strikeouts.
Kline allowed one unearned run in the fifth after the Indians’ right fielder misplayed a single by Hibbs, which allowed him to advance to third. An infield hit by Spartans’ third baseman Bailey Delp gave Pottstown its first run of the game.
In the sixth inning, Kline walked two batters before facing Hibbs, who was 2-for-3 on the day with three RBI. Pine Forge coach Andy Duffy went out to the mound to talk to Kline, but left him in the game.
“I just wanted to make sure he made some good pitches,” Duffy said. “He did, but he just hung a curveball there.”
“It’s one of those games where one pitch is going to make the difference,” he added. “Nate was cruising along, walked two guys that inning, which really ended up hurting him and made one bad pitch ... We had other chances. We had a couple innings where we