Carr sends Methacton past Pope John Paul II in walk-off fashion

FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> Youth and age.

Both have served Methacton well this spring. And in Friday’s game with Pope John Paul II, both facets of the team’s roster demographic played key parts in the Warriors’ 11-10 victory over the Golden Panthers in Pioneer Athletic Conference action at Methacton’s Childress Memorial Field.

David Carr, among the double-digit number of seniors on the squad, singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh to score sophomore Demetrio Rodriguez with the game-winning run. Carr’s single capped an inspired comeback by the Warriors (3-3 league), who overcame PJP’s 10-5 lead through five.

At the near end of the age scale, sophomore Jake Morello got the pitching win on the strength of one-hit relief in the seventh inning. Morello’s shutout stint prevented PJP (3-4) from resuming its own surge at the plate, coming off a sixth inning where the Panthers scored four times in the sixth to distance themselves from the Warriors with a 10-5 lead.

“We have an unbelievable combination,” Methacton head coach Paul Spiewak said. “We have senior leadership — 10 who place the team first — along with four freshmen and two sophomores who’ve been getting time.”

Morello was the back part of the Warriors’ freshman-pitcher bookends in the game. The front part was Ben Christian, whose promising start was untracked by PJP’s five-run third — one that pulled the visitors even with their hosts 5-5, led by Billy Hitman’s two-run double to left-center field.

In between, Patrick Pennypacker (senior), Demetrio Rodriguez (sophomore) and Varun Royyuru (senior) worked the next three frames with differing levels of success. Pennypacker threw two innings of two-hit, one-run ball before Rodriguez was touched for the Panthers’ last four runs in two-thirds of the sixth. Royyuru then came on to close out the frame with a strikeout.

“We struggled,” Spiewak noted, “but we did just enough to win the game. It was a nice win … a learning experience.”

One lesson not lost on Methacton was embracing the idea the Warriors are able to come back from a sizeable deficit to win a game. Managing just six hits through the first five innings, the Warriors came close to matching that output in their last innings.

The rally started with Conor Smith and Dylan Smeyne drawing walks to start the sixth. One out later, Rodriguez singled to load the bases for Carr, whose hit up the middle was misplayed allowing Smith to score.

Another out later, Nick Wheeler plated both Smeyne and Rodriguez to make it a 10-8 game. That finished Jimmy Roskos, who came on to relieve PJP starter Ben Andrew John with one out in the third, in favor of Dave Zurowski.

Zurowski was able to get the Panthers out of the sixth without further damage. But he was replaced with one out in the seventh after hitting Morello with a pitch, PJP calling on Luke DeLeo to close out the game.

Smeyne was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Patrick O’Neil and Rodriguez, both singling to pull the Warriors into a 10-10 tie. Enter Carr, who doubled and scored the Warriors’ fifth run of the game.

“I never had a walk-off hit before,” Carr said, “but with runners in scoring position, I had to jump on the fastball.”

Jump on it he did, enabling Rodriguez to score.

“Once I hit it, I was pretty sure it was good,” Carr said.

“The hits in the last inning were huge for us,” Spiewak added. “I had a good feeling if we could hold them two runs, we’d be in position to win.”

Along with Hitman, Harvey and DeLeo drove in pairs of runs for PJP. DeLeo had his two RBI in the sixth, and Harvey one, while the Panthers augmented the hit production in the frame with two walks, an Amadeo Citro sacrifice bunt, a hit batter and an error.

For Methacton, O’Neil, Rodriguez, Carr, Feaster and Wheeler each had two RBI for the Warriors, who got a 3-for-5 day at the plate from Rodriguez.

“If we get good coaching and hit the ball the way we do,” Carr said, “we’ll be fine.”

NOTES >> Christian Wagner was PJP’s batting leader with a 3-for-5 that featured a double. … Spiewak noted he and his coaches didn’t fret too much with the players over the need to come back. “Traditionally, the coaching staff doesn’t do rah-rah,” he said. “We were smart on the bases, though when we were down five, we weren’t able to run like we wanted to.”