Small ball is mighty for Strath Haven against Marple Newtown
NEWTOWN SQUARE — A little small ball can go a long way. A lot of small ball is unheard of in this era of the launch angle and exit velocity not wanting to give away free outs.
That is, unless you are a member of the Strath Haven baseball team. Coach Brian Fili drills the little things into his players and makes sure they spend ample time practicing them.
It led to a baseball unicorn at Marple Newtown’s new turf facility Wednesday night, the Panthers bunting four times in the second inning of a 6-3 victory.
That was four consecutive bunts. Two resulted in hits, two went for plain-old sacrifices.
Zane Malarkey was the first to try this ancient approach when he laid one down and moved Sam Milligan (single) and Nick Corritore (walk) into scoring position. Will Thompson dropped down a squeeze that went for a single. An errant throw by freshman pitcher Aidin Curran enabled a second run to score. Luke D’Ancona, Strath Haven’s starting pitcher, was next to attempt the old-fashioned strategy. His bunt went for a hit and an RBI. Finally, Ben Milligan successfully squeezed in a run on a sacrifice.
“We work on bunting and bunt defense every day in practice for a half-hour at least,” D’Ancona said. “It’s just great to see it working.”
Strath Haven (10-2) scored all six of its runs in the third. After the bunting carousal ended, the Panthers added runs on an RBI single by Alex Pak and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Sam Milligan, who had started the rally with a leadoff infield hit. Strath Haven managed seven hits in six innings off Curran. Only two of them left the infield dirt.
“We do it in certain situations and they placed the bunts down perfectly,” Fili said. “We’re going to be playing in the playoffs and facing a pitcher who is just mowing you down and we’re going to have to go to Plan B sometimes. We at least have that Plan B to go to. To the kids’ credit they put them down in all the right spots, and our runners on base had good timing. We did everything well in that inning and I thought it kind of rattled (Marple) a little bit, too.”
The sophomore D’Ancona pitched 5.2 innings to earn the win. The tall right-hander used a mix of fastball, curveball and changeup to keep the Tigers off balance. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out eight. He was also not deterred by the sudden change of location, in a came scheduled for Strath Haven but relocated due to field conditions.
“It really didn’t mess with my preparation. Once I knew we were here, I was mentally prepared to play here,” D’Ancona said. “I mean, it’s a beautiful field. It’s really nice to play on a field that looks like this. The mound is a little bit different, so it took a couple minutes to get used to it. But it’s amazing.”
D’Ancona threw 103 pitches. Malarkey got the final four outs for the save.
“As the game went on my (velocity) started to go down and I relied on my location a lot more,” D’Ancona said. “Just laying in strikes and making sure my fielders make plays for me and they did a great job.”
Fili loves the potential he sees in D’Ancona, Haven’s No. 2 starter behind senior Pak.
“I think the experience is helping him,” Fili said. “He’s become a lot better at locating his offspeed pitches and understanding that he’s not going to be able to throw just fastballs by a high school hitter, especially against guys toward the top of the lineup. His curveball is really good. When it’s on, it’s on and he gets a lot of right-handed hitters. He didn’t have his best stuff today, he struggled a little bit when he got into the stretch, but he’s going a great deamnor out there. He’s got a great future.”
Jack Maholick smashed an RBI triple and Kevin Taraborelli had two singles for the Tigers (7-4), who fell from second to third place in the Central League standings.
Also in the Central League:
Upper Darby 5, Conestoga 4 >> Jake Kessler was outstanding in his first varsity start, pitching into the seventh and allowing two runs on three hits. His brother Drew pitched out of trouble in the seventh to lock down the save.
Brian Fitzpatrick smacked two doubles and had two RBIs for the Royals. Jake and Drew Kessler (two RBIs) each had a pair of hits.
Ridley 3, Haverford 1 >> Jacob Naumann twirled another gem for the Green Raiders, who jumped into second place. Naumann pitched all seven frames, giving up a run on five hits while striking out six.
The Green Raiders scored three in the bottom of the sixth. Mike Happersett, Zack Ladislaw and Tyler McDevitt each had an RBI. Jeremy Stranix, who doubled, and Ryan McNichol both went 2-for-3 in the winning effort.
Ethan Mahan led the Fords with two hits.
Radnor 4, Penncrest 3 >> Austin Havertine tossed a complete game with five strikeouts for the Raptors, who did all of their scoring in the first two innings. Teddy Monaghan went 3-for-3 with an RBI, and Joe Krasowski produced two hits and one RBI. Jack Jordan doubled and scored a run.
Nico Tozzi singled, doubled and drove in a run for the Lions. Sean O’Donnell and Kris Farnan each singled and knocked in a run. Josh Kalinwoski was the tough-luck losing pitcher after allowing one earned run in over six innings.
Harriton 4, Springfield 2 >> Vinny Valerio went 2-for-2 with a run scored, and Sean Williams slugged a double for the Cougars. Matt Bean recorded six strikeouts in five innings, but yielded three runs on five hits and suffered the loss.
Ross Brotherston powered the Rams offense with three hits, including a triple, and an RBI.
In nonleague action:
Haverford School 6, Chichester 5 >> The Fords won with a walk-off squeeze bunt by Jac Campbell to cap a three-run rally. Connor Scanlan, who scored the winning run, tied the game with a pinch-hit, two-run single.
Ryan Getz had two RBIs, Sean Dougherty went 3-for-4 and Mark Quartrani finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored for Haverford. Jacob Horwitz earned the victory with a scoreless inning in relief.
Aaron Jackson pitched six frames for the Eagles (13-1). He scattered three runs on six hits and struck out eight. He also clubbed a pair of doubles and knocked in two runs.
