SOL A/C advances to Carpenter Cup final in dramatic fashion

PHILADELPHIA >> This year’s SOL American/Continental team has a flair for the dramatic.

Tuesday afternoon, in Citizens’ Bank Park, this group of high athletes did it again, and now they’ll get to play for a Carpenter Cup title on Friday. When North Penn’s Nate O’Donnell sped home on a passed ball in the top of the ninth inning, it gave the A/C all the room it needed in a 5-4 victory over Delco.

Getting there was a menagerie of the twists and turns that have defined this team the last two weeks.

“It was very exciting, the whole atmosphere, the whole day and we started trying to play our own game,” Upper Dublin’s Cole Swiger said. “We tried not to worry about all the hype. We took our time in the at-bats, we were seeing pitches wells, swinging at strikes. We had some hits, we had the passed ball and in the end, everything aligned for us.”

While the team’s second lineup has been authoring most of this drama, the first lineup was key on Tuesday. After Delco struck for two second inning runs off Hatboro-Horsham’s Colin Kennedy, A/C got one right back when Souderton’s Thylar Summarell singled in CB West’s Steven Gebre. Souderton’s Blake Gular led off the fourth with a double, coming in to score on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice off the bat of Gebre.

SOL A/C used just three pitchers in the semifinals, with Kennedy, Souderton’s Aaron Gulibon and CB South’s Dan Klepchick each going the maximum three allotted innings. Kennedy rebounded well from his second inning, shutting Delco down in the third while Gulibon continued his torrid form in the tournament with three more shutout innings. Klepchick was tagged in the eighth, but also came back tough in the ninth to close out the win.

“I came off the field and the coaches asked if I had one more and I told them I could go,” Klepchick said. “I really needed that, it was big. We had that passed ball there, it was a game-changer and it got me even more pumped to go back out there. I wasn’t giving up another run.”

In the seventh, Swiger stroked a one-out double, snaking the ball just inside the chalk up the third base line then came in to score on a long single by CB East’s Cameron Komonchak for the go-ahead run. An inning later, another one of SOL A/C’s top players in the tournament stepped to the plate. What Alex Tappen did with his first at-bat got everyone’s attention.

Tappen had a very long morning Tuesday, stuck in standstill traffic on I-95 North due to a traffic accident, sitting in his car for almost four hours while on the phone, his dad continually reassured Tappen he was going to get to his game. Sure enough, the Wissahickon junior got there and when his turn came up, he took it out on a baseball.

A 2-0 changeup met the Virginia recruit’s bat and landed about seven rows deep in the CBP left field seats for a solo home run.

“It’s one of the coolest experiences of my life,” Tappen said. “I was sitting fastball, but he tipped it off so I knew the changeup was coming. I sat back on it and put a good swing on it.

“I knew it was going out so I enjoyed my trip around the bases. I tried to take it in as much as possible because it’s not every day you get to play at Citizens’ Bank Park, much less hit a home run at Citizens’ Bank Park. I was making the most out of it. I don’t think you can top it, it has to be No. 1.”

To Delco’s credit, the home run didn’t deter them. In the bottom half of the frame Ben Newbert singled off Klepchick to start off. With one out, Dom DiLoreto got all of a belt-high, no-spin ball from Klepchick and put it in the plants in front of the left field seats for a game-tying, two-run home run.

With the game reset at 4-4, it was time for more A/C dramatic theater in the ninth inning. O’Donnell, the sole North Penn player on the roster, got the inning started when he put a ball in play and off the bag at third base for a single. A quality bunt by Upper Moreland’s Randy Meehl moved him over before Swiger drew a walk on a 3-2 count.

“It was 3-0 and he threw me two off-speed pitches which I thought was pretty bold, but they were great pitches,” Swiger said. “Then he threw me one up in the zone and I was expecting a fastball on the last one and getting ready to swing. Getting on like that and being able to break up the double play on the next ground ball was pretty big.”

Komonchak hit one to short, but a strong slide by Swiger into second base prevented the throw from getting the CB East outfielder, leaving O’Donnell 90 feet from home. A wild pitch during Thomas Philipps’ at-bat got Komonchak over a base and O’Donnell eyeing up another one.

“I always look to end heavy on the front foot and get a good read on a passed ball and get a good jump,” O’Donnell said. “It got by (the catcher) and I actually didn’t get a good read, I stumbled for a second but fortunately still got in anyway.”

O’Donnell got his footing quickly and hustled in, sliding in and over home plate for the go-ahead run. Playing at a major league park certainly helped with a big backstop.

“I want to be the one to make the big play,” O’Donnell said. “I love making the big play. We all want to win on this team and luckily we got it done today.”

Klepchick then retired the side in order to end the game. SOL A/C returns to the Bank on Friday, where it will face the Catholic League’s team for the 31st Carpenter Cup title. The title game begins at 10 a.m.

“We all want to win, we all have the mindset of winning this thing,” Tappen said. “That’s what fuels us to make the hustle plays. The idea of coming back here and playing in front of all these people is thrilling, we’re all playing to win.”