Loading your audio article
QUAKERTOWN – North Penn baseball’s lead shrunk in the bottom of the seventh inning but Nick Palovich’s confidence never did.
“I’ve done it multiple times, right – I come and I have just the mindset of it’s just another game,” Palovich said. “Now I’ve done this hundreds and hundreds of times, right, I’ve been playing this game since I was a little kid and just have some fun as well out there too, cherish it.”
Down to its final three outs trailing 7-2, host Quakertown opened its half of the seventh with three straight singles to chip a run off the deficit and end the night for Knights starting pitcher Trevor Lugara in Tuesday’s District 1-6A fifth-place playback.
Palovich came in and the first batter he faced, Danny Qualteria, connected on a single up the middle to drive in another run and give the Panthers two runners on with no outs and the tying run coming to the plate.
“I kind of just come in, I know we have a good enough lead where if those two guys score we still have the lead,” Palovich said. “So I’m going to go ahead and keep throwing strikes, right – limit the amount of damage, limit as many guys on base and just do my job.”
The senior right-hander responded by striking out the next three batters, securing the 14th-seeded Knights’ spot in the PIAA Tournament with a 7-4 victory over No. 1 Quakertown.
“I mean they put on good swings but I didn’t have a doubt,” Knights junior catcher Chase Jones said. “We brought on Nick Palovich, he’s been a dog all year, I love him and he’s my guy.”
Jones helped spark the Knights’ offense with a triple in each of the first two innings, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs, North Penn (16-7) posted 12 total hits in reaching states for the second consecutive season and third time in the past four years.
“I was just hitting where they were throwing,” Jones said. “I wasn’t thinking. I was in a slump recently so I’ve been trying to work on the mental game and it’s been working. Really wasn’t thinking about anything, just see the ball, hit it and take it where it’s pitched.”
North Penn visits No. 2 Neshaminy, which rolled past No. 13 Spring-Ford 11-1, in the district fifth place game 4 p.m. Thursday. Winner faces the District 11 champion – either Liberty or Parkland – in the first round of states on Monday, June 3 while the loser takes on the District 3 champ Hempfield.
“We want to win Thursday,” Jones said. “We want the momentum going into states and then we got states and we’re going to do what we’ve been doing (in the) playoffs.”
After Jones’ RBI triple in the top of the first, Ben Farley followed with a two-run home run that put North Penn up 3-0.
“I was just doing anything to put the ball in play,” said Farley, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. “Well obviously, he got ahead of me early with the two strikes so my approach – shortened up my swing and got a fastball out over the plate and did some damage.”
Jones collected another triple with two outs in the second to drive into two runs, extending the Knights’ lead to 5-0.
A Josh Martinell RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth had the Knights up 6-0 before Quakertown broke through in the bottom of the inning on Cole Reich’s two-out, two-RBI triple. But a Farley RBI single in the sixth extended North Penn’s advantage to 7-2.
Tanner Clancy led off the bottom of the seventh by lining a single through the left side while Carver Perrone reached on an infield single. An error allowed Clancy to take third then score on Brady Martin’s RBI single.
“Sometimes the ball’s got to bounce your way and you get a couple of ‘em and you got a little spark going and a little confidence and a lot of hitting is confidence,” Quakertown coach Jonathan Pallone said. “He did a great job, pounding the strike zone and keeping us off balance and working outside. We just finally got it together and started going and never gave in.”
Qualteria knocked an RBI single up the middle to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 7-4 with runners on first and second and no outs. But Palovich posted three straight strikeouts to halt the rally and earn the save.
“Curveball was definitely the dominating pitch there,” Palovich said. “I threw definitely more curveballs than fastballs but that’s definitely my pitch, I feel so comfortable with that right now which is great to have against definitely the heart of the lineup up there too.”
Martin and Perrone both went 2-for-3 for the Panthers (16-7) with Perrone scoring twice. Qualteria was 2-for-4 as the SOL Liberty Division champs were denied a PIAA berth for the fourth time in the past two years.
Last season, the Panthers fell to North Penn 4-2 in the quarterfinals then lost to Abington 8-4 in playbacks. Quakertown was knocked off by No. 8 Downingtown East in this year’s quarters 6-3 last Friday.
“We’re right there with ‘em the last two years,” Pallone said. “I mean, these guys were gutsy last year on that playoff run as the 23 seed. (Quakertown’s new multi-purpose turf) field is certainly going to help, being able to get outside and practice in the offseason and preseason and we were able to practice during this season which before we’ve been stuck in a gym that’s not even a full-size basketball court.
“ So not having those facilities and things available that these much-larger districts have that have more money, more people, more stuff, our community has kind of rallied behind us with this multi-purpose field, it’s been great.”
Martinell was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, Ben Grattan went 2-for-4 with a double while AJ Briggs finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored for North Penn, which has won 10 of its last 12 after a 1-5 stretch had the Knights sitting at 6-5 in April.
Lugara earned the win, allowing four runs – all earned – on eight hits in six-plus innings. The junior left-hander walked one and struck out four.
Quakertown starting pitcher Matt Marsten took the loss, giving up five runs, all earned, on six hits in two innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out one.
Briggs led off the first with a single, went to second on Jeremiah Criger’s sacrifice bunt, took third on a passed ball then scored as Jones tripled to left center.
“I saw it in the gap,” Jones said. “They say I’m the slowest on the team but I got some wheels.”
Farley then belted a two-run homer to left center on the next at-bat for a 3-0 lead.
Luke Chartrand started the top of the second with a single while Grattan doubled to left to put runners on second and third. Chartrand was thrown out at home on a Criger one-out fielder’s choice but Jones followed with a two-RBI triple to right center.
In the top of the fifth, Kyle Bonner drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on Kevin Brace’s bunt single then came home on Martinell’s sac fly to right.
Quakertown made it 6-2 in the bottom of the frame. Perrone singled with one out while Qualteria kept the inning going with a two-out base hit. Reich plated both with his two-RBI triple to right.
The Knights posted their final run in the top of the sixth as Briggs led off with a walk, stole second then scored on Farley’s two-out RBI single.
North Penn 7, Quakertown 4
North Penn 320 011 0 – 7 12 3
Quakertown 000 020 2 – 4 9 1
WP: Trevor Lugara 6 IP 8 H 4 R 4 ER 1 BB 4 SO.
LP: Matt Marsten 2 IP 6 H 5 R 6 ER 0 BB 1 SO.
S: Nick Palovich 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 SO.
2B: NP-Ben Grattan, Josh Martinell; 3B: NP-Chase Jones 2; Q-Cole Reich; HR: NP-Ben Farley.
North Penn: Farley 2-4, 3 RBI, R; Grattan 2-4, R; Jones 2-4, 3 RBI; Martinell 2-3, RBI; AJ Briggs 2-3, 2 R.
Quakertown: Reich 2 RBI; Brady Martin 2-3, RBI; Carver Perrone 2-3, 2 R; Danny Qualteria 2-4, RBI, R.
