Norchester stays alive in Region 2 tournament
SPRING TWP » Norchester got more than it expected out of the first pitch Ryan Cusic saw in the eighth inning Monday night.
The first ball from Hatfield Towamencin reliever Ricky Henning slipped through the catcher’s legs, allowing Brian Siket to score and tie the game. Cusic, who was holding on the pitch regardless, also got Henning’s timing down.
On a 2-1 count, he singled into left field, the ball took a hop past the outfielder and Norchester was in the lead.
The Bulldogs held on to top Hatfield-Towamencin 6-3 in an elimination game at the Region 2 Legion tournament, eliminating the Titans and extending their season at least one more day.
“I had the take sign at 0-0 and I got my timing down during that pitch,” Cusic said. “I was just looking for something to drive and I
was a little out in front, but it found its way in the hole and scored two runs.”
After losing to Souderton on a walk-off, Norchester has bounced back with two straight elimination wins, knocking out Hellertown on Sunday. Cusic, the No. 9 hitter and DH for most of the game, had three hits as Norchester kept chipping away all game.
Bobby Himes gave the Bulldogs seven strong innings in a starting effort, allowing just three runs and keeping some of Hatfield Towamencin’s more potent bats quiet. The Titans got all three of their runs in the sixth inning but otherwise had a tough time with Himes and his defense.
“We just said to keep doing what we had been doing all game,” Cusic said. “We swung the bats well tonight, Bobby was pitching well. We had to cut down on the errors and instead make plays.”
Norchester picked off three Hatfield-Towamencin runners in the game, center fielder Austin Levengood made a diving grab off a Billy Collins liner in the second inning to save a hit and Riley McGinley made a spectacular play to induce the game-ending double play.
Cusic said even if his eighth-inning ball hadn’t dropped in, he was confident the Bulldogs were still going to find a way to win. They’ve been playing with a new energy since losing to Souderton, a game they rallied out of a 5-0 hole to even bring up a walk-off.
“We had a rocky start, we weren’t playing good ball and it cost us,” Cusic said. “We’re good at coming back and tonight it showed with our hits late in the game.”
The ninth inning got rocky in a hurry for Norchester. Left-hander Mike Deviney walked the first hitters he faced and the Bulldogs lifted him for right-fielder Ryan Glenn, a move that took Cusic out of the DH spot and into right.
Glenn walked pinch-hitter Griffen Juckniewitz to load the bags with no outs but got Titans leadoff hitter Ryan Bealer to look at strike three for the first out. Outfielder Joe Picozzi put a hard swing on a 1-1 pitch, but McGinley sprawled to his right to snare the ball and flipped back to second base for the final out.
“That’s a fundamentally strong team,” Hatfield-Towamencin coach Joe Drelick said. “They play great defense, they bunt, the had seven or eight pick-off tries and a few of those plays worked. That’s just good baseball. I respect the heck out of (Norchester coach Rick Harrison) and if I was going to lose, I’d want it to be to a guy like that.”
Norchester will face the winner of Monday’s late game between Souderton and host West Lawn on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Monday’s game was delayed nearly three hours due to a sustained heavy rain system that moved through the Reading area and pushed an approximate 3:15 start back to 6 p.m.
While Norchester’s opponent Tuesday will be undefeated, the Bulldogs are going in with plenty of confidence.
“If we keep hitting the ball well, we can go pretty far,” Cusic said. “We just look to hit the ball and bunt. That’s our game, we can play small ball pretty well but overall, we just swung the bats tonight.”