Titans bounce Doylestown
H-T combines for 8 run in 3rd, 4th innings to stay alive in tournament
HATFIELD TWP. » Momentum can be a powerful factor in baseball.
After trading runs with Doylestown for the first two-anda-half innings of Wednesday’s Bux-Mont Connie Mack A tournament elimination game, Hatfield-Towamencin gained the momentum in a major way. The Titans bracketed eight runs around a shutdown defensive inning, changing the path of the game.
The turning point held as Hatfield-Towamencin knocked off Doylestown 10-5 at School Road Park to stay alive in the tournament.
“The energy in the dugout got us going,” Titans outfielder Quinn Martell said. “It brought some vibes to the dugout, we started smacking the ball and it just kept going.”
Doylestown started the game hot, scoring a run in the top half of the first, second and third innings on six total hits, but its defense helped the Titans stay stepin-step until the third frame. Tony DeMichael’s single opened the game with Josh Schiller driving him in on a double, Jack Carver laced an RBI single in the second and Schilling scored on Harrison Yim’s RBI double in the third.
Schiller gave his all trying to extend the season, going 3-for-4 and pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Doylestown. After losing its first game of the tournament, the No. 6 seed rallied to be one of the last four teams standing.
“We had a lot of other guys playing for other teams, so I feel like we didn’t reach our full potential but otherwise it was a decent season,” Schiller said. “I just kept my mind clear, didn’t think about anything else and just focused on the game.”
Martell walked to open the
bottom of the first, later scoring on Aidan Copestick’s RBI single. A trio of Doylestown errors allowed Greg DiPippo to turn a second inning strikeout into a run and miscues would play an important part in the Titans breaking the lead open an inning later.
H-T scored three runs in the third, with Jack Picozzi’s RBI single the only hit of the frame. Two errors and three walks added up as Doylestown found itself behind for the first time in the game.
“When they make mistakes, it’s our job to capitalize on them,” Picozzi said. “We have to be ready to take advantage of those opportunities and make the most of them.
“We started off taking a lot of good pitches we know we can hit, so once we got baserunners, we continued to get good pitches to hit but we started blasting them.”
Titans pitcher Charlie Wetzel made sure his team maintained its newfound momentum with a 1-2-3 top of the fourth before the offense went out and put up five more runs. Wetzel, who pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowed eight total hits but just two after the third inning.
“I just kept throwing strikes,” Wetzel said.
Five straight hitters found their way on base to start the bottom of the fourth inning for Hatfield-Towamencin, with two runs scoring on a fielder’s choice and an infield error. With the bases loaded for him, Picozzi delivered the big hit with a booming double to left-center that left him the lone man on and the Titans up 10-3 on the board.
Hatfield-Towamencin lost its second game of the tournament and has been battling to stay alive since. Getting through Wednesday to set up a win-or-gohome game with Deep Run on Thursday was just the next step.
“For some of us, it’s our last year playing Connie Mack and we want to end on a bang,” Martell said. “We’re all just hungry to keep winning.”
Wetzel noted the big lead only helped bolster the team’s energy and he responded by stranding two runners to end the top half of the fifth and getting two outs in the sixth before Greg DiPippo finished off the frame.
The pitcher was confident his team would find a way to keep the momentum from Wednesday’s win going into the final phase of the tournament. With an unbeaten Upper Moreland waiting in the title game, the Titans and Deep Run would both need three straight wins to win it all, but it starts with only one of them getting through the next game.
“We need to keep the energy up,” Martell said. “They have good pitchers, so we have to get up ready to swing.”
Hatfield-Towamencin 10, Doylestown 5
Doylestown 1110002— 5106
Hatfield-Towamencin 113 500 x — 10 4 1