Shoemaker, Phoenixville add to program legacy with first PAC title since 2002
ROYERSFORD >> Trip Shoemaker knows the baseball tradition at Phoenixville.
His father Steve, who played with the Phantoms from 1988-1991, was there for three Pioneer Athletic Conference championships before he was selected in the Major League Baseball draft.
“There’s a couple pictures of him wearing his big, goofy glasses and his uniform,” Shoemaker said of reminders of his father’s time at the school.
FINAL: Phoenixville 5, Spring-Ford 3…Jason Bilotti K ends it. pic.twitter.com/xyxdhhyFOC
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 17, 2019
Shoemaker cemented some of his own legacy Thursday night at Spring-Ford High School, helping the Phantoms to a 5-3 win over Spring-Ford for their first PAC title since 2002 and eighth in program history.
“Just being able to claim PAC champions, there’s no greater feeling honestly,” Shoemaker said. “All my teammates, we just love to be out here playing with each other and wanted to do it for ourselves.”
“When (my dad) was there they were a powerhouse team,” he added. “It was just great being able to look back on that and come here and win today.”
The Phantoms led for most of their PAC semifinal win over Owen J. Roberts on Wednesday before giving up the lead late and winning in extra innings on a walk-off hit. The game played out similarly on Thursday as Phoenixville led 2-0 entering the sixth inning before Spring-Ford took a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the inning.
As they did Wednesday, the Phantoms rallied. Shoemaker’s one-out triple sparked a three-run inning for Phoenixville. Shoemaker scored on balk to tie the game. Ethan O’Donnell, who had his second straight three-hit game, gave the Phantoms the lead after scoring on a wild pitch.
An RBI single by Devon Goryl gave Phoenixville a 5-3 lead heading to the seventh. Sophomore Jason Bilotti, who was charged with one of the runs in the top of the sixth, ended the game with a strikeout to give the Phantoms their first league title in 17 years.
“It’s very nerve-wracking,” Shoemaker said. “When we give up those runs, we can see our demeanor go down a little bit, but we just gotta stay focused and always stay up and keep going. I’m a little in awe right now to be honest.”
“We definitely play with a chip on our shoulder,” O’Donnell said.
A day after senior Luke Bagley took the ball for the Phantoms, freshman Drew Kingsbury started for Phoenixville. After walking his first batter, Kingsbury settled in, not allowing a run until the sixth. He gave up two runs and three hits in five innings before Bilotti recorded the last six outs.
“I was like, I know what I’m doing. Coach started me for a reason,” Kingsbury said of his thoughts after that first walk. “I just calmed myself down and threw strikes.”
“To have a calmness about him, he didn’t look like a freshman out there,” Spring-Ford head coach Jamie Scheck said.
Phoenixville is the 2019 Pioneer Athletic Conference baseball champions. First title for the program since 2002 and eighth overall. @PhantomBaseball @PASDPhantoms pic.twitter.com/vA7BoHWuUy
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) May 17, 2019
The Spring-Ford offense got off to a sluggish start after scoring four runs against Methacton in the first inning on Wednesday. Ben Wilchacky, who led the team with two hits, recorded the Rams’ first knock with two outs in the third inning.
Chase Simmons’ triple to lead off the sixth followed by an RBI single by Mark McNelly started the Rams’ scoring. David McCurry’s double to right field brought McNelly home, and Jason Smiley’s squeeze bunt scored McCurry to give the Rams a 3-2 leading heading to the bottom of the sixth.
Wilchacky replaced starter Hunter Curley on the mound in the fourth inning and silenced the Phoenixville bats for two innings. Neither Wilchacky nor Tyler Leonard could get out of the sixth inning. Cooper Webb struck out two batters to end the Phantoms’ rally.
“I think in general tonight, all of our pitchers, we didn’t work ahead,” Scheck said. “We gave them too many free bases. But you’re not going to win a lot of games with four hits either. As good as we played yesterday, we didn’t play a great game today, but their pitcher was fantastic.”
The Phantoms advanced to last year’s championship before falling to Boyertown in the championship game. Shoemaker, Goryl, Justin Blakey, Dylan Clark, Colton Brown and Brandon Fink were all in the lineup for that game.
That experience paid off Thursday night.
“It certainly did,” O’Donnell said. “It just made us want it more.”
Phoenixville’s championship run almost never came to be.
The Phantoms hit a skid late in the season where they collected just one hit in 17 innings during a three-game losing streak. They were in danger of missing out on the PAC Final Four with a loss in their season finale against Pottsgrove.
Coach Dave Cimina decided to shake things up in practice before the Pottsgrove game. Cimina said he welcomed the team to “Phoenixville Little League,” harping on the little mistakes they were making during their losing streak. There was no hooting or hollering, but the Phantoms’ head coach seems to have pushed the right buttons.
“They were mad at me,” Cimina said. “I called a few of them out, and that’s what a coach has to do sometimes to bring them back. I was actually feeling really bad about it when I did it, but I did it in a sarcastic way and that’s the way I’ve coached all year with them. I don’t yell. I don’t scream at them. I don’t punish. I do it sarcastically.”
“They got the message,” he added. “Since that we’ve been back on track the way we were in the beginning. It was a big bump though.”
The Rams entered Thursday night hoping to claim their third PAC title in the last five years after wins in 2015 and 2017.
Seven of the last eight league championships were won by either Spring-Ford or Boyertown. The exception was Methacton in 2014. The only other team to win a PAC title since the Phantoms were last crowned champions was Owen J. Roberts, which won three times.
Winning one for the Frontier Division, the smaller schools, and knocking off a perennial league power in the process made the moment extra special for the Phantoms.
“It certainly means a lot considering we’ve always been a smaller school,” O’Donnell said. “We’re playing against kids that pull from 100s of kids. It helps us stay close as a team, and we just play together.”
