Nick Falso, Wissahickon walk-off winners against Upper Dublin
LOWER GWYNEDD — It was clear from the start that Wissahickon and Upper Dublin’s Monday matchup for Suburban One League American Conference supremacy was going to be a good one. The first batter of the game, Upper Dublin’s John Lee, saw 12 pitches from Wissahickon’s Logan Willans.
Willans ended up striking out Lee, and the Trojans (14-3, 12-1) came out with the win, 7-6, in eight innings.
On Senior Day at Wissahickon, it was team-leader Nick Falso who came through in the extra frame.
The senior stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out. Once he made contact with the ball, the Trojans dugout was celebrating and preparing to swarm Falso at first.
Falso crushed the ball to right centerfield and junior Jeremy Spittle raced home from second.
“I was just looking to put something in the outfield,’ Falso said before receiving an ice bath from his teammates. “We had a man on second and had to get him in. I was just looking to lift something the whole time and I got a pitch I could handle and I just drove it.’
The game-winning RBI wasn’t Falso’s only contribution in the victory. He knocked in two runs earlier in the game and scored in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at six.
Falso reached on an error with one out in the seventh, advanced to second when the throw went out of play and got to third on a wild pitch. With the infield in to cut-down the tying run, Ryan Becker hit a slow roller to first base. Falso sprinted home and just beat Connor McFadden’s throw to the plate.
“(Falso is) a leader,’ Wissahickon coach Shannon Gunby said. “He’s had an outstanding senior season and those are the guys you depend upon to step up in big situations. We’ve had a lot of guys this year, but he has done it a lot.’
The Flying Cardinals (12-7, 11-2) were only ahead because of a ferocious comeback in the top of the sixth inning.
McFadden hit a sacrifice fly to plate Mark Lunney and Upper Dublin trailed, 4-2.
With two outs and a runner on first, the Cardinals tallied five straight hits, knocking Wissahickon starter Logan Willans from the game, and turned the two-run deficit into a 6-4 lead.
“That was awesome to watch,’ Upper Dublin coach Ed Wall said. “Watching these guys banging the ball all over the yard was a lot of fun to watch. Line drive after line drive — we were doing that all game, it’s just they were right at (Wissahickon fielder’s). It was just a matter of time for them to fall for us.’
“We’ve played with confidence all year,’ Gunby said of his team’s morale after falling behind. “I don’t say a lot to them in those situations. I know our senior leaders and guys that have been in this situation are going to take care of things.’
Willans threw 5.2 innings for the Trojans. He allowed eight hits and six runs while striking out five and walking zero.
“He’s our No. 1 guy,’ Gunby said. “As a sophomore he has a ton of experience throwing in big situations and he’s got good stuff. He got the ball up in the zone a little bit towards the end of the game and they took advantage of it.’
Christian Huckfeldt went seven innings for Upper Dublin before Cole Swiger relieved him in the eighth. Huckfeldt surrendered seven runs on nine hits. He struck out three and walked one.
The Cardinals did not have their best fielding game, committing five errors and allowing the tying run in the bottom of the seventh to score without Wissahickon tallying a hit.
“Our gloves let us down a little bit here today,’ Wall said. “When they are giving us groundballs like that, we just have to execute. We gave them a couple freebies there at the end that came back to bite us.’
The win puts Wissahickon in control of its own destiny in Wednesday’s season finale against Cheltenham.
Upper Dublin will close its season Wednesday against Springfield.
