Lower Moreland tops New Hope-Solebury for District 1-4A title

PLYMOUTH TWP. >> For the first time in school history, the Lower Moreland High School baseball team has won the District One 4A championship beating New Hope-Solebury 4-2 Thursday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth.

Leading the way for Lower Moreland was the freshman pitcher Matt Haggerty, who only gave up one hit in his first postseason start.

Haggerty gave up his lone hit with no outs in the sixth inning as he was flirting with a no-no past five innings.

“It was just another game for me,” said Haggerty. “Just had the same talent and went for the win today.”

Both teams’ semifinals were pushed to Wednesday due to poor weather conditions. Lower Moreland beat Pope John Paul II 5-4 while New Hope defeated Sprignfield-Montco 3-2.

Haggerty finished Thursday with the complete-game victory, giving up only one earned run while striking out nine.

Lower Moreland got on the board first in the third inning when Emmett Cousins scored a run on a fly ball to center field, which was also the first hit of the game for the Lions.

New Hope eventually tied the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, but Haggerty still had a no-hitter going.

Lower Moreland started to run away with it at the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring three runs to make the game score 4-1.

Leading the fourth inning was Coleman Peppelman with an RBI double, which turned out to be the only extra base hit of the game from either team.

“The momentum changed after the double,” said Peppelman. “We wanted to get back on top and get our team rallied up.”

Even though New Hope-Solebury got its second run in the sixth inning, it still wasn’t enough as Haggerty struck out the last batter to secure the district championship.

Lower Moreland head coach Tony Martino was thrilled with his teams huge accomplishment to earn a spot in the state playoffs.

“It’s a great experience for the kids winning the district championship,” said Martino. “It’s great to see their hard work pay off.”

“Haggerty came through and he battled hard,” added Martino. “We used our top two guys yesterday to give him the ball today and he delivered.”

Lower Moreland will now focus on the first round of the PIAA 4A Tournament as it will stay closer to home on Monday, June 4 against the second runner up from District Three. Time and location is yet to be determined.