District 1-6A: No. 18 Garnet Valley stuns No. 2 Plymouth-Whitemarsh

PLYMOUTH MEETING >> Ryan Wootten got things started for Garnet Valley and he surely finished them, Drew Van Horn made the “biggest play of the year,” and the 18th-seeded Jaguars scored a major upset in the second round of the District 1-6A Playoffs, stunning No. 2 Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 5-3.
“This was huge for us. We started out pretty slow during the season and we bonded as a team and are really playing well,” said Wootten.
The win sends Garnet Valley to Friday’s quarterfinals, at Hatboro-Horsham at 4 p.m.
PW saw a fine season come to a close at 14-3.
The game was a continuation from Wednesday, when lightning and rain left things suspended in the top of the fifth inning, with GV leading 4-3.
The Jaguars (9-8) immediately added to their lead in the fifth.
With two men on, Logan Nelson’s RBI single provided Garnet Valley some breathing room, up 5-3.
“We weren’t expecting the game to be rained out, but we were ready,” Wootten said. “We had the same mindset coming in today. We were just ready to play some baseball.”
Wootten pitched three scoreless frames on Thursday against the high-powered Colonials.
Luke Gartland’s one-out bunt single gave PW a man on in the bottom of the fifth, but Wootten got Dom DiCiurcio to fly out and struck out Jack Hildebrand to end the threat.
Wootten then struck out the side in the sixth and the Jaguars were closing in.
Plymouth-Whitemarsh seemed to get the bats going in the seventh. Luke Caucci belted a single to left and Mike Miller walked to put runners at first and second with no outs.
But things were about to change, suddenly and drastically.
Luke Gartland ripped a line drive toward short, and what looked to be a run scorer for the Colonials was snagged out of the air by Van Horn, who went up high to make the grab and threw to second for the double play.
One more out on a fielder’s choice sent the Jaguars to the next round.

“My coaches and teammates believed in me and my defense backed me up,” Wootten said of his performance on the mound. “Drew made an amazing play, huge play, the biggest play of the year.”
The double play in the seventh provided sudden elation for the Jaguars, mounting heartbreak for the Colonials.
“In games like this, plays like that usually happen and they either go your way or the other way,” PW coach Chris Manero said. “The guy hits the ball hard and that’s what we want him to do. I thought we made really good contact both days, but sometimes at guys and sometimes hard but nothing to show for it.
“But the defense makes plays and you have to give them credit too. It was a well-played game on both ends. (In the playoffs), it takes a lot of good baseball and it takes a little luck too, and you need to get both sometimes.”
Day One >> On Wednesday, Garnet Valley put together a four-run second inning.
Wootten led off with a double to right-center field and Nelson hit it to the same spot, scoring Wootten to tie the game at one apiece. Collin Simmons was hit by a pitch and Matt Zappala sacrifice bunted Wootten and Simmons to second and third. C.J. Wood put the Jags ahead with an RBI single and stole second before Matt Marowski made it 4-1 with a two-run base hit.
PW starting pitcher Joe Rauscher settled in after Marowski’s hit. He retired the next two batters to end the second, went 1-2-3 in the third, and after a hit batter, recorded three straight outs to end the fourth.
The lightning day paused the game during a mound visit when Rauscher faced a first-and-third, one-out situation in the fifth. He struck out six batters to one walk while allowing six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Winning pitcher Jack Dembek started for Garnet Valley and went two and two thirds innings. He struck out one batter to two walks and allowed two runs on four hits.
Joe Jaconski greeted Dembek with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. The North Carolina commit hit an 0-2 pitch over the fence in left-center field to put PW ahead, 1-0.

The Colonials cut their deficit to two in the bottom of the third.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Hildebrand hit a single down the left field line, scoring Lucas Gilbert and making it a 4-2 game.
Jaconski earned another jog around the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning. Another solo shot, he pulled this one to right field to get PW within one, 4-3.
Marowski took the mound in relief for Garnet Valley. In 1 1/3 innings, he struck out one batter and allowed one hit – Jaconski’s second homer.