Souderton’s run to PIAA 6A final began at the start
BOYERTOWN >> It was before the season started that Conlan Wall felt big things were coming for the Souderton baseball team.
“Personally I felt like that during training in the offseason,” the Indians shortstop said. “Everyone was grinding, we were ready to come out and do what we needed to do. It was a business trip. And so far we’ve been doing well.”
Big Red earned itself one more trip — this one out to State College — with an all-around effort at Tuesday afternoon at Bear Stadium against a Neshaminy side that had beaten Souderton twice in the regular season.
Left-hander Jordan Morales was stellar on the mound, the La Salle University commit giving up just three hits in a shutout performance, Jacob Horton provided the early momentum with his leadoff home run in the top of the second and the Indians proceeded to tack on two more runs for a 3-0 victory in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals.
“Even in the beginning of the season, just the way the group got together and had a whole bunch of laughs and when out to eat and stuff, we just knew it was going to be something special,” said Horton.
Souderton advances to its first state final since 2007 when it lost to Seneca Valley 9-1 in nine innings in the Class 4A final. That was the last time the Indians played for PIAA gold and also the last time it made the state tournament until this season by winning twice in playbacks for District 1’s fifth and final berth after a loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh in the quarterfinals.
Like Wall, Souderton coach Mike Childs felt the seeds of the Indians’ run to the state title game — where they face SOL Continental rival Central Bucks South 10:30 a.m. Friday — were planted at the very start of the year.
“That Friday after we made cuts — we had a tryouts and we made cuts Thursday — usually that Friday we do nothing baseball and we just talk, get our practice jerseys, get our team pictures, get our uniforms, we always set our team goals that day,” Childs said. “And that was the day when, and I said to them, ‘Guys, let me tell you my goals, I’m here to win a state championship every single year, that’s why I’m here.’ Obviously some days we get there, some days we don’t. And these kids bought in from the beginning.”
With strong pitching led by Morales and Luke Taylor, Souderton collected eight shutouts in the regular season en route to an outright SOL Continental crown. The pitching has remained just a solid in the postseason — only PW has scored more than a run off Big Red’s arms — but since that loss to the Colonials and edging Methacton 2-1 in the district playback semifinals, the Indians’ bats have been hot. Souderton has outscored its last four opponents 36-3, posting 15 runs to take fifth place over Garnet Valley and plated 11 in the payback win over PW in the state quarters.
“We were working on hitting but we were putting an over-emphasis on our hitting during practices,” Childs said. “And the whole loose feeling you just saw that melt off them, the stress melt off of them. And we started swinging the bats.”
The Indians recorded eight hits Tuesday, the biggest coming from Horton, who started the second inning off by belting a ball over the fence in left field for the game’s opening run.
“I just felt a curveball coming and I waited on it,” Horton said. “And I just tried to hit it.”
That was enough support for Morales, who gave up just three singles on the day but Souderton added to its lead in the fourth on a Dylan Kummery RBI single while Wall made it 3-0 in the fifth when he scored on a wild pitch.
It all combined to create one more stop on Big Red’s business trip.
“It’s huge for the program,” Wall said. “Just like the amount of support that we have with our fans and everything it’s just tremendous. Just appreciate everything.”
