Hatboro-Horsham wins in nine innings over rival Abington
ABINGTON >> Hatboro-Horsham persevered through the wind and the cold and handled every turn in the road Thursday afternoon and into the early evening.
The Hatters pulled together and pulled out a 6-5, 9-inning victory at chilly Abington High.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a game like that before. That was crazy. Both teams left everything they had out on the field,” said Hatters coach Pete Moore, who has his squad out to a 4-1 start. “You tip your hat to Abington. They played extremely hard. In the end, that was fun.”
First baseman Stephen Plefka reached base four times for the Hatters, his pinch runner, Kenny Lutz, scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth to push Hatboro in front for good in this Suburban One League Liberty Division battle.
“This is fantastic,” Plefka said after the victory. “Abington is a good team. We respect them a lot. It’s fun playing against them. This is a huge win, especially after (a loss to Wissahickon) last week. (This game) shows how resilient we are as a team.”
Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, the Hatters drew closer with a bases-loaded walk by Noah Schlosser and then drew even when Jaxson Bumpus was hit by a pitch.
Hatboro looked to seize control when Schlosser smacked a two-run single to make it 5-3 in the seventh, but back came the Ghosts (0-2, 0-1 Liberty).
Michael Judge’s two-out, two-run double to the gap in right center deadlocked things at five apiece in the bottom half, ultimately sending the game into extra innings.
The Hatters broke the tie in the ninth.
Plefka reached on an error, Aidan Eckley walked, and Trey Porter laid down a bunt single to load the bases. With one out, Jamie O’Neill lifted a fly ball to center, allowing Lutz to tag up and race home to make it 6-5 Hatters.
“That was a freshman that we put in to pinch run,” Moore said. “He has good speed. Jamie, a sophomore, had a great at-bat to hit the line drive to center field and score (Lutz). Some young kids produced for us. And the best player in the league is Trey Porter. He comes up, first and second and nobody out, and he was willing to lay down a bunt to load the bases.
“I think we used 18 guys in that game. It was a true team win for us. To overcome adversity, I think in the end that’s gonna be really big for us.”
O’Neill closed things down on the mound to get the win, striking out Mason Kispaugh to end it.
Early on, Abington had taken a 1-0 lead in the second when Matt Worek was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Ghosts made it 2-0 in the third when Alexander Dardaris scored on a double steal.
The Hatters cut the margin in half in the fourth when Eckley drew a bases-loaded walk. Abington strengthened its lead to 3-1 in the bottom half when Chase Goodson smacked an RBI single, but the Hatters hung in.
“I love winning, love watching this team win,” said Plefka. “We all have each other’s back no matter where we are in the lineup or where we are in the field.”
Hatboro-Horsham 6, Abington 5 (9)
Hatboro-Horsham 000 102 201 — 6 10 0
Abington 011 100 200 — 5 12 2
WP: Jamie O’Neill (3IP, 2R, 2ER, 5H, 1K, 3BB).
LP: Logan Moss (3IP, 3R, 2ER, 5H, 1K, 3BB).
2B: HH-Noah Schlosser; A-Alexander Dardaris, Jake Kaplan, Michael Judge.
Multiple hits: HH-Trey Porter 2-for-5, BB; Schlosser 2-for-5, BB, 3RBI; Kyle Dittus 2-for-3, BB, R; Stephen Plefka 2-for-5, 2R; A-Matt Worek 3-for-4, HBP, RBI; Dardaris 2-for-2, 3BB, R; Kaplan 2-for-4, BB, 2R; Judge 2-for-4, BB, 2RBI.
