Melchior, Healey lift Hatfield to Bux-Mont championship
QUAKERTOWN — The Hatfield American Legion team popped up from the bench quickly and peered their heads down the left field line. The swing of Noah Melchior gave Post 933 a comfortable cushion over Quakertown Wednesday night. The boys huddled around home plate and waited for the first basemen to touch home after hitting a seventh inning three-run home run.
“I knew I had two strikes on me and he hung a curveball,” Melchior said. “I heard my first base coach was screaming get out. Props to guys getting on and giving me a chance. It really blew the game open.”
After the blast, starting pitcher Collin Healey handled the rest en route to a 5-1 victory to claim the Bux-Mont championship and secure a spot in the Region 2 tournament, which begins Saturday.
Healey, a rising North Penn senior, came back strong after the Blue Jays’ Vinny LaCava allowed the Melchior blast. After three hits and a run in the sixth, Healey held down the Blue Jays — striking out two of his four batters on the night in his eighth and final inning.
“We came up against Quakertown, who has done a very nice job in this tournament with a lot of good hitters,” Hatfield coach Matt Gallagher said. “To get by them you need a number one guy.”
Healey commanded the corners and contained a boiling-hot Blue Jays lineup. After losing the first game of the tournament to Nor-Gwyn, Quakertown battled back to reach the championship game. Healey scattered ten hits, but got outs when it mattered most. Having a true ace has always been important in postseason play and that is exactly what Healey has been all summer.
“From spring to now Collin has really blossomed,” Gallagher said. “He has really developed into a true number one pitcher. With the year he has had, he has a future in this game. We have had college coaches out to watch him this summer.”
LaCava kept it close as the game was a pitchers’ duel in the early stages. But as the two reached 100 pitches, it was only a matter of time before someone exhausted all of their energy. Melchior had the big blast, but Tim DiLoreto registered three hits in the win — doubling and scoring in the third to give Hatfield its first lead. Zach Zeigler drove in Mike Christy in the fifth, giving Hatfield a 2-0 lead it never relinquished. The Blue Jays never backed down and had some life after Mark Repshar’s RBI single, but the life was short lived.
“They were battling the entire game,” Melchior said. “Quakertown is the hottest team in the league right now. It was nice to see Healey go out and throw the way he did. We expect big things out of him, in Region 2 as well.”
Other than raising the postseason trophy up high, Hatfield gets to extend its season a few days, and if all goes well at regionals in Muhlenberg, a few more weeks. Nobody wants summer to end and start thinking about back to school. Post 933 certainly agrees with that sentiment. Hatfield will celebrate the championship for a few days and get back to work, looking for a Region Two title.
“We are excited to be going to regionals,” Gallagher said. “We put together a good postseason run and I hope it continues.”
Hatfield 5, Quakertown 1
Quakertown 000 001 000 — 1 Hatfield 001 010 30X — 5 WP: Collin Healey 8 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K LP: Vinny LaCava 7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K 2B: H-Tim DiLoreto, Noah Melchior; HR: H-Melchior.