Pitching, late stand gives Owen J. Roberts baseball rebound win over Methacton

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BUCKTOWN >> The encore between Methacton and Owen J. Roberts was a different type of thriller than the 10-inning marathon between the two on April 14.

The Warriors were on the wrong end of a pitcher’s duel, down 4-0 in the top of the seventh. Hitting wasn’t working — Wildcats ace Tristan Dietrich holding Methacton to just one hit up to that point — so the Warriors put runners on without swinging instead.

Four straight walks with no outs and a sacrifice fly cut the gap, but Owen J. Roberts held firm, fending off a late effort to come out with a 4-2 win at home, hand Methacton just its second loss of the season and avenge the previous loss between the two.

“This was a huge game for us. We came in here and practiced hard all week. Of course, we got the rain delays and cancellations all weekend,” Dietrich said, noting his team’s last game against Spring-Ford on April 24. “We haven’t played in a week. We were hungry. The boys came to play.”

Owen J. Roberts pitcher Tristan Dietrich delivers to Methacton during a PAC Liberty baseball game at Owen J. Roberts High School on May 1. (Evan Wheaton – MediaNews Group)

Dietrich — 6-foot-4, 180-pound Florida International University pledge — struck out 15, including striking out the side twice, with one hit let up over 97 pitches. Four of his five walks came in succession in the top of the seventh, chasing Dietrich and making way for East Carolina commit Tyler Brashear, who entered before Tommy Kratz hit the sacrifice fly that allowed the game to be cut to two runs.

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Dietrich showed some two-way flare as well. The lefty loaded the bases with a single before Zach Brockner (Stonehill) dropped a ball in left field for a double to bring home two runs, giving the Wildcats (8-6, 4-3) a 4-0 cushion heading into the stretch.

“Getting in and out of the innings quickly and having those long innings at bat (helped). We made adjustments at the plate and started swinging at more strikes,” Dietrich said. “We weren’t swinging as much and looking at balls. We jumped on and got good ABs and I think that flipped the momentum on both sides. Once we started hitting, hitting’s contagious.”

Brockner recorded the first hit of the game in the bottom of the second inning before working his way to third on a sacrifice bunt and fly, respectively. Battling back on a full count, Will Hakun hit a line drive along the right line to score Brockner for the initial run of the game.

Like Methacton’s seventh-inning surge, Owen J. Roberts’ second run came without a hit two innings later. With two outs and a full count at the plate, Lucas Santise came home from third base on a balk to go up 2-0.

The call was made in regards to movement from Methacton (13-2, 7-1) pitcher Evan Jones’ shoulders.

“Before he comes set, Evan tends to shake his shoulders a bit and my conversation with the umpire is that he felt as though the movement was him starting to come set and stopping and coming back,” Warriors coach Paul Spiewak said. “That’s not how I saw it. We had two tremendous umpires tonight and they had some tough calls to make, that being one of them.

“To me, if you’re sure you see something, then so be it. But in a really great pitching duel, obviously I feel better if I’m on the other side of it, but that was not the type of call I felt should happen at that moment unless you’re sure … Like I said, two great umpires and they saw what they saw and made the call.”

Jones finished with six strikeouts, four hits allowed and five walks.

Methacton pitcher Evan Jones throws out a pitch against Owen J. Roberts during a PAC Liberty baseball game at Owen J. Roberts High School on May 1. (Evan Wheaton – MediaNews Group)

Jake Chapman recorded Methacton’s first hit in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single in center field. A double play on a popped bunt to the third baseman to second prevented any damage from being dealt in the frame.

“We had a good approach, and I don’t think our approach was all that different from the seventh than it was earlier,” Spiewak said. “Tristan made really big pitches throughout the game, even when he sporadically threw pitches out of the zone, he quickly (recovered). Even when he was 2-0, he threw pitches when he needed to. It was less about the approach and more that we stuck with it and battled.”

Methacton — which has held teams to two or less runs in six games this season — is ranked No. 2 in the District 1 Class 6A field after just missing the district playoff field by one spot last year.

Owen J. Roberts was among the top 10 in the last meeting between the two before dropping to No. 16 in District 1-6A. Coming off their first District 1 title ever following the program’s ninth Pioneer Athletic Conference championship win, the Wildcats are looking for more forward progression.

“Right now we’re focused on one game at a time,” Dietrich said. “We have one goal right now, that’s to get into PACs and win PACs. We’re not looking after that. One game at a time, next guy in front of us.”

Results

Team1234567RHE
Methacton0000002220
Owen J. Roberts010120—440
Methacton Owen J. Roberts
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Chapman 4 0 1 0 Taylor 3 0 0 0
Kieckner 2 0 0 0 Donaghy 1 1 0 0
Howarth 2 1 0 0 Dietrich 3 0 1 0
Kratz 2 1 0 0 Brockner 3 1 2 2
Shytle 2 0 0 0 Ambrosio 1 0 0 0
Frank 0 0 0 0 Santise 2 1 0 0
Christian 2 0 0 1 Hakun 2 0 1 1
Weil-Kaspar 3 0 0 0 Brashear 2 1 0 0
Humes 3 0 0 1 Zachesky 1 0 0 0
Lohsen 2 0 1 0
Totals 22 2 2 2 Totals 18 4 4 3

2B — Brockner.

IP H R ER BB SO
Methacton
Jones 4.2 4 4 3 5 6
Christian 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
Owen J. Roberts
Dietrich 6 1 2 2 5 15
Brashear 1 1 0 0 0 2
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Evan Wheaton

ewheaton

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