Strath Haven edges Conestoga in Central League baseball thriller

TREDYFFRIN >> Strath Haven junior pitcher Mike Valente had been in these kinds of situations before but maybe not as intense as the one Wednesday afternoon at Conestoga High School.
Conestoga had rallied from a two run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it a 9-8 game. The Pioneers had bases loaded with two out and their hottest hitter, Shane McCullen, at the plate.
Valente got the first two strikes on the batter and then, after three foul balls, induced McCullen to hit a hard grounder to shortstop that was flipped to second for the force out and the Panthers had a thrilling 9-8 Central League win.
“I have been in these kinds of situations a lot,” Valente said. “We practice these types of things in practice every day. It was good to get the first two strikes on him and then we made the play in the field. And we scored nine runs, so we should win the game. We hit a little lull at the plate but we are practicing going the other way and getting our bats on the ball and it paid off today.”
The first place Panthers (12-1 overall, 9-1 Central League) bolted out to a 5-1 lead over the host Pioneers (7-4, 6-4) going into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Conestoga sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored six runs on four hits while chasing Panthers starter Brett Mutz from the game in favor of Valente. The Pioneers got big hits from McCullen and Ty Seifert and a two-run single from Alex Jones in the six-run uprising.
But Strath Haven came right back in the top the fifth to tie the game at 7-7. Luke Jacobson led off with a double and Bryce Davis singled to put two men on with no one out. After the runners moved up on a ground ball to second base, Marc DeCarlo singled in a run and two batters later, Cole Teichel ripped an RBI single to make it a 7-7 game.
“That two run fifth inning was very big for us,” Strath Haven coach Brian Sili said. “A lot of teams would be down after they scored six runs but these guys came right back and took the momentum of the game right back. This is a veteran group that has been doing that all season. We have a lot of seniors and they play the game the right way. And Mike Valente has been our closer all year and he has been very good in tough situations like today.”
The score stayed tied 7-7 until the top of the seventh inning.
Davis led off the top of the seventh with a sharp single to left field for the Panthers, Sam Milligan laid down a bunt and busted it down to first base to beat the throw, and suddenly the Panthers had two on with no one out.
DeCarlo then laid down a bunt and the Pioneers went to third base to get the lead runner. The throw was ruled late and the Panthers had the bases loaded with no one out. Valnete and Teichel then lofted deep sacrifice flies to plate two Panther base runners and Strath Haven had a tenuous 9-7 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Conestoga did not roll over, however. The Pioneers got a ringing leadoff triple to deep center field from Walker Burdette to make things interesting. After Valente got a strikeout, Nico Arbes ripped an RBI single to right field and it was a 9-8 Panthers edge. After a Conestoga strikeout, Seifert singled and Jason Thorish walked to load the bases with two outs. Valente got a grounder from McCullen to end the game on a very close play at second base and the Panthers had the win.
“We are definitely disappointed but our effort was very good,” Conestoga baseball head coach Matt Diamond said. “We came back and battled and had our hottest hitter at the plate after a leadoff triple and we had our chance to win the game and it was a bang bang play at second base to end it. But, give Strath Haven credit. They are the No. 1 seed in 5A, and today was two very good baseball teams going after each other.”

Strath Haven 9, Conestoga 8
Strath Haven 012 220 2-9
Conestoga 010 600 1-8
2B-Jacobson. 3B- Burdette.
WP-Valente. LP-Neiland.