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NETHER PROVIDENCE — An elbow injury kept Jack Shuster out of the lineup longer than he expected. The senior returned at the end of the regular season but has struggled with his timing at the plate.
Shuster rediscovered his sweet swing Wednesday as No. 4 Strath Haven earned a 5-1 victory over fifth-seeded Penncrest in the quarterfinals of the District 1 Class 5A tournament.
The reigning district champion Panthers (16-4) host No. 8 Marple Newtown in the semifinals Friday. Three of the final four teams in the tourney are from the Central League.
Batting in the eighth spot, Shuster blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, extending Strath Haven’s lead to four runs. The designated hitter finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a key single in the Panthers’ three-run fourth inning.
“It felt amazing. At first I didn’t think it would go out, but it felt perfect off the bat,” Shuster said of his homer. “I missed half of the regular season and when I came back I struggled a little bit at the plate. I had a hairline fracture in my elbow. I thought I would be back way sooner, but I ended up missing about a month. My swing is still a work in progress, but it felt good today.”
Haven’s 7-8-9 hitters – Will Thompson, Shuster and Quinn Kell – combined for five hits and a walk. Shuster’s power potential gives the Panthers plenty of options at the bottom of the order.
“Jack is starting to get back to where he was before the injury,” coach Brian Fili said. “When he came back, his timing was off. It was the second game we had with Springfield, over at their place, and he struck out two times. But you can see it slowly coming back. That will be a big bonus for us if he starts swinging the bat like he did today.”
Strath Haven ace Luke D’Ancona pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and striking out five on just 83 pitches.
Despite facing Penncrest for the third time this season, D’Ancona managed to keep the Lions in check. The Lions and Panthers split their regular season meetings.
“They just saw me last week, so I’m fresh in their minds. They put a lot of good barrels on me,” D’Ancona said. “Gavin (Brown) smoked two balls off me. They had some good swings. I knew I just had to battle all game. I trusted my defense today. Jake (McDonough) made a phenomenal play in center. (Third baseman) Quinny (Kell) made a great play on the first play of the game. I didn’t really have my swing-and-miss stuff, I felt, but I also knew the third time around facing these guys I wasn’t going to get a lot of swings and misses. I just tried to trust my defense and trust myself.”
D’Ancona limited the damage in the fifth after Penncrest ended the shutout. Harry Giles led off with a single and scored on a one-out double by Ben Pennoni to trim the Haven lead to 4-1. The Boston College commit got Josh Kalinowski to pop out and struck out Nico Tozzi to retire the side, stranding Pennoni at second.
The Panthers scratched out a run in the bottom of the first on singles by Matt Kane, Eli Price and McDonough. A string of four consecutive knocks, and a costly balk on Penncrest starter Henry Murphy, led to three more runs in the fourth. Kell dropped a beauty of a bunt down the third-base line, and Price had a sacrifice fly.
In the third inning, McDonough robbed the Lions of a run when he ran down a flyball off the bat of Tozzi with two outs and a runner on first.
“Nico hit that ball as far as you can hit it here and not have it go out ,” D’Ancona said. “Jake tracked it down like I knew he would, saved at least one run.”
Strath Haven will hand the ball to Rob Mattai in Friday’s semifinal. The Panthers are vying for their third consecutive appearance in the district final.
Marple Newtown advanced to the semifinals with a 7-0 triumph over top-seeded Chichester.
“The guys at Marple are some of the best hitters in the league,” D’Ancona said. “It’s really fun to see crosstown rivals in the playoffs. It’s the third time around against them, just like it was with Penncrest, so we have to be a little more focused and bring our A-game against them. It’s going to be fun.”
