Jordan’s return to Marple ends with progress and a tie

NEWTOWN TWP. — Mark Jordan was late to his homecoming Monday.

“Traffic on 476,” said the idiosyncratic Radnor coach as he hustled to the visitors bench at Marple Newtown.

“Nothing to see here, folks.”

This time last year, Jordan was coaching Marple Newtown, which became the first baseball team in Delaware County history to win a PIAA championship.

Unfortunately, Monday’s three-hour slugfest of a reunion was left unresolved. The umpires called the game after eight innings due to darkness with the scored tied 7-7. The game could resume at a later date or be declared a tie.

Jordan received a few hearty handshakes from his former players, including Tigers seniors Alden Mathes and Kevin Merrone, who were standouts on that state championship team last spring. Even Jordan’s former ace, 2018 Daily Times Player of the Year Luke Zimmerman, was able catch the game on an off day from playing at Saint Joseph’s. Zimmerman was the walk-off hero in the state final.

Jordan resigned from his position at Marple Newtown to return to Radnor, where he had coached from 2012-16 and captured a District 1 Class AAA title. He completed his second tour of duty at MN with a 48-18 record, with Central League, District 1 and PIAA championships during a two-season run. Jordan wanted to go back to Radnor — where coaches varsity girls basketball — so that he could one day coach his son, Jack, a seventh grader in the district.

“We’re still so tight with these guys,” Jordan said of his ex-players. “So it was nice seeing some of those guys, Alden and Kevin, the state championship guys. It was fun seeing them. They were fired up, our guys were fired up.”

It appeared Jordan would get the better of his former team when senior catcher George Hoysgaard belted a solo home run off Mathes in the top of the seventh inning to give the Raiders a 7-6 lead. It was a hanging breaking pitch by Mathes that Hoysgaard crushed over the fence in left-center field.

“It felt very good off the bat,” Hoysgaard said. “… It was really exciting for the team. I thought we had (the win) there, too.”

That’s because the Tigers showed their championship pedigree with a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. Radnor erased a leadoff single by Tyler Bogan when Sal Tartaglia bunted to pitcher Owen Lewandowski, who turned and fired to Sean Mullarkey, who then threw a strike to first baseman Sunny Kwon for the 1-6-3 double play.

“It was a fun game to play in, and it’s a weird feeling to tie because you don’t know what to think,” said Mullarkey, who singled and scored twice atop the Radnor batting order.

Radnor was a strike away from notching its biggest win since the 2016 District One Class 3A title game, but pinch hitter Eric Protesto battled back from a 0-2 count to work a walk, stole second base, and came around to score the tying run on a single by Joey Pettinelli.

“You get to learn a lot about the kids,” said first-year MN coach Bill Haines. “It’s great to see guys step up. Joey Pettinelli got bumped around a little on the mound, so it was good to see him get a big hit in a big spot.”

There was the anticipation of seeing Jordan coaching from the opposing bench, but the Raiders are in the midst of recovering from two sub-par seasons, so this was a measuring-stick game.

“I think it says we can prove some teams wrong this year,” Mullarkey said. “We’ve been down the last two years. Obviously, they’re a very good Central League team, they’re defending state champions. We hung with them and we battled.”

The Raiders struck for four runs in the first inning off Pettinelli. Kwon laced a bases-clearing double to knock home three.

Marple scored two runs and took advantage of two Radnor errors in the bottom of the first while forcing Radnor starter Sam DiLella (nine Ks) to throw 33 pitches. The Tigers grabbed a 5-4 lead in the second inning thanks to an RBI single by Merrone and an RBI groundout off the bat of Bogan.

Jack Lee delivered a two-run single to put Radnor back in front, 6-5, in the fourth. In the bottom half, Merrone hit a sacrifice fly to knock in Mathes and even the score.

Lewandowski, a sophomore, worked out of trouble in the eighth after allowing a leadoff double by Jack Mulgrew and an intentional walk to Mathes, who reached base all five times and scored three tuns.

Matt Cohen pitched 2 1/3 innings of solid relief for Radnor.

“That fight is not something I can teach, it’s something you just gotta learn,” Jordan said. “And I thought our kids showed that today. … Last year (Radnor) played a total of eight innings in two games against those guys. So this was a big improvement. We’re getting better.”

Elsewhere in the Central League:

Penncrest 12, Springfield 4 >> Dylan Bittle and Jack Pendleton paced the Lions with three hits apiece. Kellen Davis hurled a complete game with six Ks.

Mike Grapin went 3-for-4 and scored a run for the Cougars.

Lower Merion 4, Haverford 3 >> The Aces won it in walk-off style, but specific details were not reported to the Daily Times.

Ryan McCarthy pitched six solid innings, and Will Higson had a double for the Fords.

Harriton 9, Strath Haven 0 >> Rams ace Jared Kochanowski tossed a one-hit shutout with nine punchouts.

In the Catholic League:

Bonner & Prendergast 13, Archbishop Carroll 5>> John DeMucci was 3-for-5 with two RBIs for the Friars (4-0, 3-0). Matt Cicalese added two hits and three ribbies, while Jason Nihill and Steven Maiden each chipped in with two knocks.

Pat Marley smacked a pair of doubles for the Patriots.

In the Bicentennial:

Faith Christian 23, Christian Academy 2 >> Luke Dutton singled and doubled for the Crusaders.