Late offense lifts North Penn over Pennridge

PERKASIE >> In a crucial game in the Suburban One League Continental baseball standings, the North Penn Knights scored seven runs in the last two innings to get past Pennridge 10-2 on the road Wednesday afternoon at Second Street Park.

The Knights (5-5, 3-3 conference), who won their third straight, got the offense started in the top of the first inning when Kolby Barrow and Jake Morello hit back-to-back doubles to take a 2-0 lead.

Despite giving up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and back-to-back singles with two outs in the second inning, North Penn starting pitcher Josh Lowe kept the game at 2-0 after three innings.

North Penn scored another run in the fourth after Colby Chan hit a leadoff double and later scored on an RBI single from Kyle Schulze, increasing the lead to 3-0.

Pennridge (2-7, 0-6) finally put two runs on the scoreboard in the fifth.

Paul Croyle reached first base on a leadoff single in the fifth before Lowe recorded two outs in the next two at bats.

Clayton later scored the first run of the game for the Rams with a two-out RBI single to left field to make the score 3-1.

Pennridge managed to get its other run after Jack Goddess continued the two-out rally with an infield single to score Clayton from third base.

The Rams did have the opportunity to tie the game with a run in scoring position, but relief pitcher Jason Krause threw a three-pitch strikeout to retire the side and keep the game at 3-2.

The Knights didn’t take long, however, to bounce back, scoring four runs on four hits to increase the lead to 7-2 after six innings.

North Penn managed to get three insurance runs in the top of the seventh before Krause threw a quick 1-2-3 inning to seal the 10-2 road victory.

Highlighting the North Penn offense was Chan who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI while running across home plate three times.

“I felt great today especially getting out of a recent slump I was in earlier,” said Chan. “I felt like I was hitting the ball all over the place and just making good contact.”

Drelick also had a highlight reel on offense going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the victory despite striking out to start the game.

“I knew in my first plate appearance that I was a little bit out in front,” said Drelick. “But after that I started hanging back and getting a good rip at the ball to get on base.”

Lowe earned the win on the mound for North Penn after throwing 4.2 innings and striking out five Rams.

“My first couple innings I was keep the ball down low in the zone,” said Lowe. “That felt really good and I was just out there having a great time going for the win.”

North Penn head coach Kevin Manero was thrilled with his team’s performance to earn its fourth win of the year.

“We are in a position right now where we can’t afford to give away games because we’re trying to catch up in the SOL standings,” said Manero. “I let the guys know after the fifth inning that we have to make some adjustments keeping us balanced at the plate and making good pitches on the mound.

“I felt like we got really tough with two outs in the late innings. I think that was the difference maker to turn it around and put some runs up on the board.”

For Pennridge, the loss drops them down to 0-6 in the SOL Continental standings as it still looks for its first conference win.

Pennridge head coach Tom Nuneviller was pleased with his team’s efforts despite giving up seven runs in the last two innings.

“We have been struggling so far this season,” said Nuneviller. “I was proud that we fought back to make it 3-2 in the fifth but then they came away late and it looked worse than what it actually was.”

The Pennridge Rams look to bounce back when they host Southern Lehigh Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

The North Penn Knights hit the field when they travel to Pennsbury Thursday, April 25 with first pitch scheduled for 3:45 p.m.