Senior leadership key for Harriton baseball success
Wallingford >> Past experience has shown that senior laden Harriton baseball teams have produced successful results. The last time Harriton had a high concentration of seniors they advanced to the PIAA Class 3A state title game.
To date, the Rams are off to a 5-1 start thanks to a complete team effort that has featured a different player step up in key situations and lift the Rams to victory.
“This team has shown tremendous fight this year,” said assistant coach Justin Mellor. “Against Penncrest we came back two different times and almost came back a third time in our only loss of the season. It has been great to see so many players step up. Christian (Quinn) got off to a quick start; Eddie (May) also started strong; Duncan (Attig) and Adam (Fine) have been coming along and of course Jack (Kochanowicz) has thrown great.”
Mellor added, “Ethan Boni has played at a consistently high level this year and is our engine at the top of the line-up.”
“The quick start has been key for this team,” said senior Pierce Hagg. “We are a momentum team and right now the guys are on a roll so we just have to keep our energy up.”
Harriton started the season with four consecutive wins before losing a slugfest to visiting Penncrest. Despite having a veteran team that is sprinkled with underclassmen, it’s always interesting to see how a team will rebound from a tough loss.
Fortunately, they did not have time to dwell with two Central League contests that included hosting Lower Merion the following afternoon before traveling to Strath Haven, a team they have had trouble with recently on April 8.
After soundly defeating neighborhood rival Lower Merion, Harriton took their show on the road and posted a 9-0 win behind a complete game performance from Kochanowicz and clutch hitting from Duncan Attig who delivered a three-run triple with two outs in the third inning that was followed by a two-run single from Ethan Boni to push the lead to 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning.
“In games like this Jack supplies the power and we just have to make sure we keep moving our feet and be ready,” said senior Adam Fine. “You can’t take anything for granted.”
“We have an unreal friendship in which most of us have been playing together for four years, Fine added. “We pick each other up and show the underclassmen the importance of sticking together.”
In front of multiple Major League Baseball scouts, Kochanowicz finished the game allowing just one hit while striking out eight and walking two on 89 pitches with his fastball topping out at 95 MPH.
“I felt great today,” said Kochanowicz, following the Strath Haven game. “It felt nice pitching in warm weather. My first couple of starts were in cold weather.”
Spring Break this year will feature the Rams traveling to Florida to play three games against some New York teams, this squad knows the second half of the season really starts after their return.
“We are going to use this trip as a bonding experience,” said Hagg. “We have a tight knit group but this will be a good opportunity to help the younger kids and bring us closer together as a team.”
