Marler, La Salle clip Lennon, North Penn in PIAA-6A semifinal duel

BOYERTOWN >> Ryan Marler needed one more out.

He knew it, his La Salle teammates knew it, North Penn’s players knew it and the fans of both teams in the stands knew it, so Boyertown’s Bear Stadium started to get loud. The Explorers senior heard the rising wave of noise, both the support his way and against, felt it and was then totally unfazed by it.

Three pitches later, he was celebrating a game-ending strikeout, the cap on a masterful outing as he and La Salle edged North Penn 2-0 in a terrific PIAA-6A baseball semifinal Monday.

“I think the crowd, the loudness and everything, it helped,” Marler said. “I thought the hitter looked a little antsy and knowing I had our crowd behind me, I was ready.

“Relief was definitely my first thought, then excitement because we worked really hard for this all season.”

Marler was excellent, throwing a complete game six-hit shutout that delivered the Explorers their first trip to the state title game since 2014 and saved all their other arms for the trip to State College later this week. He struck out four but also got plenty of support behind him thanks to a defense that was clean and made some early energy plays.

In their prior three games, Explorers pitchers didn’t need to worry about run support but offense was hard to come by both ways Monday. North Penn senior Mike Lennon, who was superb for the Knights all year, spun a great outing of his own by going the distance and striking out  five to give his bats every chance to rally.

The left-hander came up on the short end of the result, but didn’t want one score to reflect what he and his teammates accomplished this spring.

“I’m proud of every single kid on this team, we’ve all come such a long way since the beginning of September when we first came together as a team,” Lennon said. “I’m just very appreciative to come out and play this type of game where both teams were battle-tested. It wasn’t the outcome we were looking for but we all know we’re going on to do better things, which is also good.”

It’s been an unusual season for Marler, who battled an injury early in the year and started out as a reliever before stepping into a starting role for this final act of the season. Whatever the role, the senior has thrived in it, mixing three pitches to the tune of a 3-0 record and 1.94 ERA prior to Monday’s outcome.

He earned Monday’s win to go to 4-0, which sits nicely next to the pitching win he was credited with against Archbishop Wood in the PCL final and last week’s PIAA first round win over Hatboro-Horsham.

“In warm-ups, he was just painting my glove and I thought he just brought it out to the mound,” La Salle catcher Nick Astolfi said. “I had a pretty good sense of the zone and it was consistent. Ryan just kept hitting that outside corner, it was beautiful.”

The Knights, looking for their first trip to the state final since 2015, actually out-hit the Explorers 6-5 but were denied that one breakthrough knock that would have gotten things going. North Penn coach Kevin Manero credited Marler with throwing a lot of strikes but also felt his guys went up not afraid to swing and created some chances.

It only took three batters for North Penn to threaten, with Jeff Sabater and Evin Sullivan linking back-to-back one out singles in the top of the first to put the pressure on La Salle. Steve Corrado hit a ball hard up the middle, but right to Explorers second baseman Jake Whitlinger, who stepped on the bag then threw to Mason Sermarini at first for the double play.

Whitlinger, who went horizontal with the dirt to grab a liner and rob Colin Orndorff an inning later, said the early glove-work was meant to reassure Marler to keep doing his thing.

“When you have a guy dealing like he was today, it’s super-easy to play defense behind him,” Whitlinger said. “If you have to lay out or make a throw, it’s really no pressure when he’s dealing. We trusted him and he did a great job today. We had a lot of energy coming out, it was a big crowd, so it was a fun game to play and we practice that all the time so you just trust in your preparation.”

He ended the day in a zone, but Marler admitted he didn’t feel great about his early stuff.

“I was a little shaky in the beginning but I think I started to find it in the second inning,” Marler said. “I started pitching to contact, let all my infielders and outfielders do the work and just played from there. I chalk it up to hitting my spots and my defense, they did everything they needed to.”

La Salle still needed to score in order to win and Lennon was steadfast in his refusal to let that happen. The Knights’ ace this spring stranded five runners, four in scoring position, through the first three innings before getting a spotless 1-2-3 fourth inning to keep pace with Marler.

“The biggest thing for me was trying to keep the ball down in the zone and trusting my preparation through the entire season,” Lennon said. “If I trusted my preparation and kept it down in the zone, I knew I’d be okay. I was hoping to keep them to two runs or fewer.”

North Penn’s best chance after the first came in the third when RJ Agriss and Sabater, who went 3-for-3 all on infield singles, had back-to-back two out knocks. La Salle’s Jephson Hadson-Taylor ended that chance by deftly fielding a hard-hit ball from Evin Sullivan at third, touching the base for the force out.

After a final team meeting on the field, and shared hugs with each other and the coaches, the Knights left the dugout together where they were greeted by a long ovation from their fans before boarding their bus home. In a season that started with the team 5-4 and having to shut down midseason for COVID-19 related reasons, the Knights stuck together, finishing 20-7 and one of the last four teams standing in the state.

Manero, who had a long answer lauding so many of the traits and characteristics of his team this season, said it was just the type of game the Knights hoped for and were seasoned for.

“Sometimes in baseball, you just have to break the ice first. They did and unfortunately, we didn’t have an answer for that the last couple innings,” Manero said. “We battled, it wasn’t from a lack of effort or toughness or heart or anything like that.”

La Salle got all its scoring in the fifth inning. Hadson-Taylor led off with a single, an error allowed Whitlinger to reach and he stole second before shortstop Eric Shandler hit a sac fly to left, scoring Hadson-Taylor.

Sermarini, the PCL’s co-offensive player of the year, added an insurance run on a sac fly to center that scored Whitlinger, who punctuated it with a diving slide into home.

“There was a picture from one of the Wood games of me doing a Superman dive, so I wanted to do another one,” the senior said. “Belly-flop on home plate, that’s all it is.”

Marler’s day was going so well by then that he and his catcher couldn’t even figure out what his best pitch was. Astolfi, behind the plate, thought it was the curve while Marler leaned on his fastball. Whatever the right answer was, there was little doubt the senior righty was coming out in the seventh to try and finish things off.

He did and on just six pitches.

“I was just grooving, I guess,” Marler said. “I was definitely feeling good.”

Lennon and Marler were foes on Monday, but they may end up being teammates next year. Lennon has committed to continue playing at West Chester University while Marler has been accepted and is considering trying to walk on to the baseball team.

La Salle will face North Allegheny, a 3-1 winner over Spring-Ford at Medlar Park at Lubrano Field on Penn State’s campus in the PIAA 6A title game on Friday at 4:30. The Explorers can thank their senior starter for all but printing the tickets and road map to get them there.

“I like pressure, I’m glad I got the opportunity today to come out and pitch,” Marler said. “I don’t start that often, but I saw this as a good opportunity and we’re just very, very happy to be moving on.”

LA SALLE 2, NORTH PENN 0
NORTH PENN 000 000 0 – 0 6 2
LA SALLE 000 020 x – 2 5 0