Pijanowski lifts Upper Perk over Pottstown in eight innings

POTTSTOWN >> Before he even delivered a pitch, Upper Perkiomen junior Bryan Pijanowski was forced to remove white tape he had around his wrist.

Little did he know, he’d be the piece that held together his team by the end of the day.

Pijanowski pitched into the fifth inning and eventually delivered the game-winning hit as Upper Perkiomen took down Pottstown, 1-0 in eight innings on Friday afternoon at Bobby Shantz Field.

“I knew I was gonna come up clutch there, I felt it,” said Pijanowski of his game-winning single to left to score Trey Livingstone in the eighth. “I was seeing and hitting the ball well all day — but it was right at people. I knew if I had one more chance, I could make something happen.”

That chance came.

Thanks in no small part to Pijanowski — who scattered five hits across 5-2/3 scoreless innings — Elias Gabel-Tripp went the rest of the way to take home the win.

“I was spotting a lot of first-pitch strikes,” said Pijanowski. “My fastball was setting up my curve really well, which really helped me out.”

“Our pitching this year has been phenomenal,” said Upper Perkiomen head coach Frank Mercon. “They kept us in this game. From our starters, to Elias coming out of the bullpen, all of our guys have kept us close all season.”

Pijanowski slaps a single to left and UP leads 1-0! pic.twitter.com/42MMSCMgqk

— Thomas Nash (@Thomas_Nash10) April 29, 2016

Second baseman Brett Fullerton notched Upper Perk’s lone two-hit game while Nolan Graber (pinch ran for by Livingstone) got the eighth inning rally started with a single to left.

The win improves the Tribe to 6-7 in Pioneer Athletic Conference play and 7-7 overall while Pottstown drops to 2-11 (3-11 overall).

Pottstown pitcher Logan Pennypacker was equally dominant on the mound, scattering just two hits and three walks across seven innings and striking out four. Dalton Mullen went the final inning, where he let up one run on three hits, capped by Pijanowski’s rip to left to score Livingstone.

“You can’t ask anything more from your starter than what we got from Logan,” said Pottstown head coach Jeff Evans. “We played good defense behind him, but we just couldn’t get a run across.”

With his pitch-count sitting directly at 100 pitches after the seventh, Evans said it was time for his starter to come out.

“We knew he was getting close to 100 pitches,” said Evans, “that’s probably about 15 more than he’s thrown all season. In that situation, we’ve got to trust our bats to come to life and get something across.”

After falling behind by a run in the eighth, Pottstown didn’t go out without some drama.

Shortstop Mason Pennypacker opened the frame with a double to left center and then stole third base. Unfortunately for Pottstown, however, Gabel-Tripp locked back in.

After getting two consecutive groundouts that was followed by a walk, the closer set down Chase McKain looking with a 2-2 fastball to end it.

“There’s definitely something special about extra innings,” said Gabel-Tripp. “They had a little life in that final inning, but we were able to shut it down.”

That final frame wasn’t the only drama he faced on the mound.

The senior took over in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs in a still scoreless tilt. On a 3-2 count, Gabel-Tripp got Aiden Owens to whiff on a fastball to end the threat.

“That wasn’t really an ideal spot to come in,” he said with a laugh, “but there was a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders after I got him to strikeout. I knew our bats would get us a run, I just had to keep them (Pottstown) off the board.”

Upper Perkiomen’s season has been anything but predictable to this point in the season. The Tribe have compiled impressive wins against Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Methacton and Pope John Paul II. They also lost a one-run game against Boyertown in 10 innings and kept it close against Spring-Ford. UP has also suffered losses against Phoenixville and Pottsgrove.

“We’ve had some really good wins, but we’ve also had some pretty bad losses,” said Mercon. “We’ve got to find a way to string our good games together. Hopefully this win will be the start of a roll for us.”