PIAA Class 5A Baseball: Matt Kane’s homer only adds to Strath Haven’s fun
PINE GROVE — Matt Kane hammered a pitch to right field and Strath Haven’s players jumped to their feet inside the miniature-golf- sized dugout at Walter Stump Stadium.
The ball doinked off the top of the fence and went over for a three-run homer, extending the Panthers’ lead to eight runs in the sixth inning.
“It felt great,” said Kane, the team’s catcher and leadoff hitter. “We needed more runs. We were up a little bit, but they were hitting the ball. I felt that it was a back-and-forth game, but I felt (the home run) changed the momentum.”
Senior captain Sam Milligan wasn’t sure what he had witnessed.
“We all thought it was a Canseco,” Milligan said, referring to that time when a fly ball clanked off the top of Jose Canseco’s dome and went over the wall for a homer. Kane’s dinger was clean.
“I asked the umpire and he said it hit the top of the fence,” Milligan added. “I was kind of hoping it didn’t so I could mess with him about it. He definitely got into one.”
Can you tell that Strath Haven is having fun? Kane’s long ball was the dagger in the Panthers’ 14-3 shellacking of Selinsgrove in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 5A tournament. They will meet Greencastle-Antrim in the semifinal round Monday at a time and place to be determined.
The District 1 champions continued their torrid streak with the bats during the district and state playoffs. In two state tourney game they have scored 24 runs. In Tuesday’s bludgeoning they collected 16 hits and eight of the nine starters reached base at least twice.
“It’s all hard work and preparation and I also think that it’s just getting hot at the right time,” said Kane, who had two hits and four RBIs. “That’s what baseball is. We struggled a lot this year hitting the ball, but we’re hot at the right time and, with our great pitching, good things happen.”
Selinsgrove started Tyler Swineford two days after he threw 70-plus pitches. Swineford looked sharp in the first inning, but the Panthers eventually went into attack mode against a tiring hurler. Milligan led off the second with a single and eventually scored on a grounder off the bat of Zane Malarkey. In the third the Panthers erupted for six runs highlighted by Ben Milligan’s two-run triple. Swineford was pulled after recording seven outs on 67 pitches.
“Everyone is focused on themselves and what they need to do to benefit this year,” said Sam Milligan, who went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and was spectacular defensively in center field. “I’m pretty sure everybody on the team had a hit today. It’s so fun to be a part of. This team, every single kid does their part. I mean, Ben had a triple today. Where has that been? And then you have Will Thompson making incredible diving catches in right field. This team is, from top to bottom, a very good team.”
The Panthers led 7-0, but the Seals got a run in the third and two more in the fourth off sophomore Luke D’Ancona, who allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out four in 4.1 innings. Malarkey pitched the final 2.2 frames, giving up only three hits and no runs while striking out two.
Kane’s homer came with the Panthers holding an 8-3 advantage. In the seventh, Nick Corritore ripped an RBI double and later scored to give Haven a 14-3 lead.
Alex Pak went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Jake McDonough added a pair of hits. Corritore scored three runs and Malarkey chipped in with two base knocks and two RBIs. Thompson walked three times and Ben Milligan went 2-for-2 with a walk, sacrifice bunt and two runs scored.
