Patient Marple defeats host Coatesville in second round of Districts

CALN >> Marple Newtown got only eight hits — all singles — in its 7-5 win against host Coatesville Wednesday in the second round of the District One Class AAAA baseball playoffs Wednesday.

But the Tigers found other ways to get on base, drawing seven walks and reaching base four times after being hit by a pitch.

“We take pitches, and we don’t even mind getting hit,” said Marple Newtown head coach Steve Smith.

The Tigers will host a quarterfinal Friday against Pennridge — which upset No. 1 Interboro. That game is slated for an unconventional noon start time Friday.

Coatesville head coach Hal Ziegler said his team got what it expected from Marple Newtown.

“We heard that Marple was a feisty team, with patient hitters,” Ziegler said.

The Tigers had at least two runners reach base in every inning except the first, and built a 7-0 lead by the top of the sixth inning.

The game was still scoreless in the top of the third, when Marple left fielder Luke Cantwell came to bat with the bases loaded and two outs. On a 2-2 pitch, he lined a single to left field to score the game’s first run.

Marple added three runs in the top of the fourth.

Right fielder Nick Molinaro led off with a single, designated hitter Brian Reynolds followed with a single, and first baseman Corey Woodcock drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. After a force out at the plate, second baseman Bob Steven came to bat and was safe at first on an infield hit, making the score 2-0. Shortstop Ricky Collings was then hit with a pitch (he was nailed twice on the day) to make it 3-0.

A wild pitch scored center fielder Alden Mathes from third to make the score 4-0. Marple designated hitter Scott Hahn then hit a line drive down the third base side, but Coatesville third baseman Alex Curtiss made a leaping catch and turned it into an inning-ending double play.

In the top of the fifth, Marple scored two more runs. Cantwell and Tiger pitcher Cameron Mathes were consecutively hit by pitches to lead off the inning. A wild pitch later brought Cantwell home, then Reynolds lined a hit to score Mathes from second and make the score 6-0.

Mathes was breezing along on the mound, allowing only two hits and a walk through five innings and striking out six.

“He throws strikes,” noted Smith.

In the bottom of the sixth, trailing 7-0, the No. 8 Red Raiders began to rally. Coatesville first baseman and No. 3 hitter Matt Stolzer — who hit close to .400 for the season — led off with a single. At that point, the Red Raiders had only three hits, and Stolzer had all of them (including the only extra-base hit of the game, a first-inning double).

Coatesville outfielders Dylan Houck and Colin McLorie also garnered singles, and when Curtiss drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk, the hosts were finally on the scoreboard. Mathes escaped further trouble by inducing the next batter to fly out to right fielder Nick Molinaro.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Red Raiders went down fighting, scoring four runs and bringing the potential winning run to the plate with two out.

“(Coatesville) doesn’t quit,” said Smith. “I know Hal Ziegler well, and his teams are well-coached, and they don’t quit.”

After a two-run single to center by Coatesvile center fielder Dylan Houck made it 7-5 in the seventh, Jimmy Limper reached on an infield error, and Red Raider shortstop Colin Augustine came to the plate, representing the potential winning run. He hit a grounder to short for the final out of the game.

Six different Marple players had hits Wednesday, and leadoff hitter Alden Mathes had two of them. So did DH Brian Reynolds, batting in the No. 8 spot.

“Brian hasn’t gotten too much ink this season, buit he’s been hitting the ball hard the last three or four games,” said Smith.

On the Coatesville side after the game, Ziegler, who used 21 players in Wednesday’s contest, shook hands with each of his players, wishing them well.

“Our team just doesn’t quit,” said Ziegler. “They [battled all the way] in every game this season. I’m really proud of my team, my young players, and my catcher [Cole Chesnet], not too many people run on him.”