Methacton’s offense explodes in PAC semifinal win over Pope John Paul II
ROYERSFORD >> Methacton had plenty of energy entering its Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinal against Pope John Paul II Monday afternoon, but a first-inning home run took things to a completely different level.
Kross Howarth’s two-run blast in the top of the first put the Warriors ahead and they never looked back. The homer was the second of 13 hits and sparked a 12-2 win over the Golden Panthers in five innings at Spring-Ford’s Ram Stadium.
“We were very hyped because it’s a semifinal game and you have to have energy,” Howarth, who deposited the 3-2 pitch over the center field fence, said, “but that definitely lifted us up to a whole ‘nother level.”
“It lit a fire under us,” Methacton leadoff hitter Jake Chapman added. “There’s nothing that can describe it. The confidence that that brought to the rest of the team is just indescribable, incomparable. It was perfect. We rode that wave all the way to a 12-2 victory.”
FINAL — No. 3 Methacton 12, No. 2 Pope John Paul II 2
Warriors are back in the PAC Championship for the first time since 2014 after a five-inning win over Frontier champion PJP.
Methacton will take the winner between No. 1 Spring-Ford and No. 4 Phoenixville in the final. pic.twitter.com/RJLaQywokn
— Evan Wheaton (@EvanWheaton) May 15, 2023
The Warriors got contributions from everyone in their lineup. Eight players recorded at least one hit and Mike Christian laid down a sacrifice bunt to help bring home a run. Chapman went 3-for-4 while Bobby Kleckner, Howarth and Kasey Humes each had two hits.
“Everything was working for us today,” Chapman said. “We knew what we were going to see coming in here and we had a gameplan – we were going to swing our bats. It worked out well.
“(Everyone hitting) brings everything together. It’s what a true team game is really about. It’s what baseball is about. When everybody is succeeding and everybody is together there is no way we can lose. It’s perfect.”
“It was definitely a breakout game because against Upper Perk we only had four hits,” Howarth said, referencing a 2-0 win in the regular season finale on May 10. “Hits are contagious. We all just kept on hitting once we got the first one.”
After Howarth’s homer made it 2-0 in the first, Methacton added three more in the second. Humes had an RBI single before Kleckner’s two-run double extended the lead to 5-0.
Humes, Ty Lohsen and Howarth had RBI singles in the third inning while Chapman hit a two-run double and Tommy Kratz a sacrifice fly. The six-run inning extended the lead to 11-0.
In the top of the fifth, Chapman singled home Lohsen to put Methacton ahead, 12-2.
“They hit the baseball,” PJP coach Charles DeLuzio said. “Credit to those guys. (Methacton coach) Paul (Spiewak) came out with a gameplan, those guys had a gameplan and Kross was good today. They hit the baseball. It is what it is. We weren’t swinging like we usually do, but you live and learn. Young group of guys. We’re here and program is in the right direction. We need to put together a nice win streak and go to districts and get started again.”
Howarth started on the mound and earned the win. In four innings, the right-hander struck out eight batters to three walks and allowed two runs on four hits. After walking and hitting the first two batters of the game, Howarth retired eight of the next nine batters, including six strikeouts.
Pope John Paul II got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. AJ Diaddezio doubled before scoring on a third strike wild pitch that went to the backstop. Dylan Simeone brought home the Golden Panthers second run with a single up the middle.
The Warriors will face Phoenixville in the PAC championship game Wednesday night at 7 p.m. back at Spring-Ford.
Methacton 12, Pope John Paul II 2 (5 innings)
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Methacton | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 0 |
| Pope John Paul II | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Methacton | PJP | ||||||||
| ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
| Chapman | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Simeone | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kleckner | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Dimaio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Howarth | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Kenning | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kratz | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Fitzgerald | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McNally | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Frantz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shytle | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | DiAdezzio | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Mi. Christn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sgarra | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Weil-Kasper | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Boccella | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Humes | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Terlesky | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lohsen | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Fiorella | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daddazio | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Lockery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 26 | 12 | 13 | 12 | Totals | 20 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
2B — Weil-Kasper, Kleckner, ChapmanDiAddezio; 3B — Kenning; HR — Howarth.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| Methacton | ||||||
| Howarth | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Ma. Christian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| PJP | ||||||
| DiAddezio | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| High | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
| Sgarra | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
