Torres tosses Perk past Hill, 4-0
Senior pitcher loses no-hitter on final out but dominates in one-hitter
PENNSBURG >> Carlos Torres needed just one out to finish off a no-hitter Wednesday.
The Perkiomen School senior pitcher decided to go with a firstpitch changeup to Hill School’s Michael Eze.
Eze spoiled Torres’ near-flawless afternoon with a single to left field, but Torres struck out the next batter to finish off a 4-0 win for the Panthers.
He struck out 11 batters and allowed just two base runners, a walk and a hit, in the completegame effort.
“It was a good pitch,” Torres said. “It wasn’t a bad pitch, and he squared it up pretty good. We got the next out, and that was game.”
Torres got off to a tough start to the season, walking five batters and hitting two others in a 13-8 loss to Quakertown to the open the season. He’s responded well, allowing one unearned run on two hits and striking out 12 batters on April 6 against Lawrenceville followed by Wednesdays’ gem.
“Everybody on this team wants really badly to win a state championship. We’re working hard for it.” – Perkiomen School senior pitcher Carlos Torres on the Panthers’ long-term goals after Wednesday’s 4-0 win over The Hill School
The Panthers (7-2) have also bounced back from their season opener, winning six straight games before a 10-1 loss to Penn Charter last Saturday. Wednesday’s game against Hill School marked the first of back-to-back tough challenges for the Panthers. Thursday, they face Episcopal Academy, which knocked them out of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association playoffs a year ago in the semifinals.
Perkiomen School lost just three starters from last year’s team, and returned quite a bit of talent. Senior shortstop David Smith, senior second baseman Chris Pow and sophomore third baseman Zach Smith give the Panthers a strong top of the lineup. The trio combined for all three of the team’s hits Wednesday and drove in two of Perk’s runs.
The Panthers also have the 1-2 punch of Torres (Lehigh) and David Smith (La Salle) back on the mound. Smith will take the ball against Episcopal Thursday.
“It’s good when Carlos and I can go back-to-back, today and tomorrow stuff like that,” David Smith said. “It’s real good to have, especially in a big game, we can bring him in. Same thing, if he’s struggling, I can come in. It’s really good to have two guys that we know can do a good job.”
The Blues (6-3), who had come in on a three-game win streak, looked overmatched through the first three innings when Torres struck out six of the nine batters he faced. They started to get better contact in the later innings before Eze finally broke through with just one out to spare.
Starting slow and finishing strong has been the Hill’s calling card this year. Several of the team’s victories have come from late-inning rallies.
“We kind of start out flat some times,” Eze said. “I think sometimes, like today, you could see some of our energy picking up in the third inning, fourth inning, and then that’s how we usually manufacture runs.”
Hill has an experienced junior class, including pitcher Jack McLaughlin, who allowed three earned runs in four innings Wednesday. The juniors have been supplemented by freshmen second baseman Kenny Palmieri and left fielder Tyler Chenevert. Freshman pitcher Gilbert Saunders, currently out with injury, is also expected to return and contribute down the stretch.
The Blues lost to Hun School in their league opener before three straight victories, including a sweep of Mercersburg Academy last weekend. They have a crucial stretch upcoming with four of their next five games against MAPL teams. Hill will get a rematch against Hun in its next game on April 24 before a meeting with Lawrenceville three days later.
“I obviously want to win the MAPL before I leave,” Eze said.
“We put ourselves in position to compete for the league at the moment,” Hill coach Bowen Borgeson added. “We just have to win out the rest of them.”
Perkiomen has its eyes on a 25th consecutive Tri-County League title before gearing up for another deep run in the PAISAA tournament. The Panthers have reached the semifinals in two of the past three seasons.
Last year’s semifinal run was a bit of a surprise. This year’s senior group expects an even deeper run.
“Everybody on this team wants really badly to win a state championship,” Torres said. “We’re working hard for it.”
“That’s the goal,” David Smith added. “We’re not going to settle for anything else.”