Bulldogs stay alive with win over Uniontown
EPHRATA >> It can’t be said Norchester doesn’t know how to come back in a big way from a tough outing.
That was the case Tuesday when the Bulldogs found themselves in a win-or-else situation at the Pa. State Tournament. Coming off an eight-run loss to Paxton in the winners’ bracket final Monday, the ‘Dogs had to face Uniontown in elimination play.
Uniontown got the full fury of the wounded, but not finished, Bulldogs. Norchester coupled a 14-hit offense with timely defense and pitching from Kyle O’Connor for a 13-3 win completed in six innings at War Memorial Field.
Scoring runs in all but one atbat, the Bulldogs (26-13-2) moved themselves within two wins of a state title, and one from qualifying for the Mid-Atlantic Regional. They will wait for the outcome of Tuesday’s late game between host Ephrata and Paxton to see if the championship round is a two- or three-horse race.
“Paxton beat us pretty bad, so we’re looking for revenge,” outfielder Aaron Kirby, the team’s acclaimed recipient of its ‘MVP chain’, said. “But regardless of who plays, we’ll be ready.”
Kirby contributed a 3-for-4 bat and two runs scored. He also brought the game to its early end, belting a triple that plated Austin Boaman (2-for-4) with the 10th run in the sixth.
“This is big,” he said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the bats going (Monday) night, so it was nice to get the bats going.”
All but two Bulldogs either hit safely or scored at least once against a trio of Uniontown pitchers. Ethan Sabatino added a productive (3-for-4, two RBI) bat while Sam Morris set the tone with a grand-slam in the second that staked the locals to a 6-1 lead prior to another four-run outburst in the third.
“We worked on hitting the other way, using the whole field,” Kirby said. “The ball found the gaps.”
And O’Connor did his part on the mound to help Norchester’s resurgence. In his six-inning stint, he scattered five hits and three walks while striking out four.
O’Connor also gave the Bulldogs’ pitching staff the stability of a complete game, enabling it to save arms for two games Wednesday.
“The guys pick us up when we’re down,” Kirby noted. “Kyle did a great job throwing strikes, and we played good defense.”
“We have other guys who can throw,” Norchester manager Alex Condello added. “We were going to limit him (O’Connor) to 30 pitches, but when we saw how he was doing, we decided to ride him. Having the early lead made it all nice and relaxed.”
Grant Reitz (2-for-4) got the ‘Dogs started with his two-run double to left-center in the first. In the second, Morris’ slam came after Kirby and Sabatino sandwiched singles around a walk to O’Connor, and in the third Sabatino hit a tworun double after O’Connor singled home Kirby. Sam Cerimele (2-for-4) completed the scoring with a single to left.
The fourth featured an RBI single by Boaman, who later scored on a two-base error on O’Connor’s hit to shortstop.
“I’m proud of how we turned around, how we came out,” Condello said.
Qualifying for its first national regional in more than a decade ranks big for Norchester, though not of the same magnitude as a state title.
“Some of the coaches know what that’s like,” Condello said, “but the players don’t. It would be cool to clinch it (Tuesday) night.”