WHITEMARSH >> It’s been a long time coming for Central Bucks East.
The Patriots seniors got a taste of the District 1 playoffs when they were freshmen, but lost in the first round. After missing the postseason as sophomores and juniors, they punched the program’s first ticket to the state playoffs this spring when they defeated Neshaminy, 3-2, in the district quarterfinals last week.
This group’s story isn’t just a four-year tale. They’ve been playing together since they were kids.
“A lot of these guys have been playing together since they were seven,” CB East coach Kyle Dennis said after a 4-2 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh Thursday that earned the Patriots District 1’s third seed in the PIAA-6A state playoffs. “About seven of them were playing on an eight-year-old Doylestown Athletic Association team and they’ve been around each other. They know what works for each other. They can pick each other up when they’re down, they can get on each other if they need to. Our captains have been holding the team accountable all year. The biggest part is having the returning guys who got a taste of playoffs when they were freshmen, didn’t for the last two years and now as seniors want to win every game.”
“It’s a big honor to be a part of a team like this,” East senior Chase Harlan said. “We’ve all been playing with each other since we were in little league. Coming up, playing baseball with them – it’s pretty cool. To go out our final year – a lot of core guys on this team are seniors – to go out with a bang and be the first team to make it to states is a pretty special feeling and definitely one that put us in the history books at East.”
The Suburban One League Colonial Division champs are littered with talent. Chase Fulford, Reece Moody, Harlan, Jack Milsan and Nolan Behm earned first team All-League honors while Damian Frayne, Sam Bliss and Sean Hill earned second team and Nick Mutchler honorable mention. Three players on the team will be playing college baseball in the ACC – Harlan at Clemson and Behm and Colin Lynch at Pittsburgh. Their 15-5 record is about more than just ability.
“We obviously have a lot of very talented guys,” Dennis said, “but talent’s not enough. We have seniors who set the standard for how they do things. I think in my starting lineup, most of them are third and fourth-year guys on varsity. Our captains are third and fourth-year guys. They’re also our players with the most accolades, but they set the standard for what we do. They run the bases hard, so everyone runs the bases hard. They have a great approach at the plate, so everybody has a great approach at the plate. That’s the difference.”
After losing to Downingtown West, 7-5, in the district semifinals Tuesday, the Patriots responded with a road win over Plymouth Whitemarsh to head into states on a positive note.
“This game was very important to us,” Harlan said. “Obviously you want to come out on top and you want to be that three seed coming in to states. So really for us, it was trying to build our momentum back up and get rolling back into states after the loss we had Tuesday. That was a tough loss. Today was just building our momentum back up and getting after it on Monday… We’ll be ready to play.”
Frayne started for East and threw three no-hit innings. Timothy Mahony followed with two more no-hit frames before Mike Scafidi and Fulford split the final two innings.
Mislan scored the first two runs in the second and fourth innings. He led off the second with a double and, after getting picked off but being awarded third due to interference, scored on Mutchler’s sacrifice fly. He doubled the advantage in the fourth when he singled, moved to second on a walk, stole third and scored on the throw to first on a dropped third strike.
The Patriots added two more runs in the fifth when Harlan hit a two-run triple down the right field line. His fly ball got past a diving outfielder, allowing Hill and Fulford to increase the lead to 4-0.
“I saw a pitch that was borderline so I had to just fight it off,” Harlan, who was down 0-2 in the count, said. “It happened to luckily drop. We were glad to get those runs.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (15-5) got one run back in the bottom of the sixth. Gavin Moore hit a leadoff double, the Colonials first hit of the game, and scored when Christian Strunk grounded into an error.
PW’s first two batters reached base in the bottom of the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate with no outs. Gabe Caucci hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 before Chase Olszyk hit a strong line drive down the first base line. East’s Lynch was there to make a diving grab and touch his glove on first base for a game-ending double play.
“It’s obviously not the direction we want to be going into states,” PW coach Chris Manero said. “I thought towards the end of the regular season and to start the playoffs our offense was the best it had been. The other day (district semifinal loss against Downingtown East) we faced some really tough arms and every team we’re facing now the pitching is going to be better, but we’re trying to find this balance. I thought we did a nice job today – we walked (six) times – so we had that patience, but at the same time we had some opportunities where we took some pitches down the middle in big spots. Our talk right now is about our guys being more confident in those big situations. We left a lot of guys on base in the last two games. At some point, someone has to crack that ice and someone has to come up with that big hit. You can’t get that hit unless you’re willing to swing at that fastball.”
The Colonials also threw four pitchers in the game. Cooper Jones started, but left after four outs when he was involved in Mislan’s rundown between second and third. Johnny Giordano threw 2 2/3 innings in relief before Jake Rauscher threw one inning and Chase Fisher the final two.
The state playoffs start Monday. Plymouth Whitemarsh will meet Philadelphia Catholic League and District 12 champion La Salle while CB East matches up with District 2 winner Hazleton Area.
Central Bucks East 4, Plymouth Whitemarsh 2
Central Bucks East 010 120 0 – 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh 000 001 1 – 2
WP: Damian Frayne 3 IP 3 K 1 BB 0 H 0 R
LP: Cooper Jones 1.1 IP 1 K 0 BB 1 H 1 R
S: Chase Fulford 1 IP 0 K 0 BB 2 H 1 R
2B: CBE: Jack Mislan, Colin Lynch. PW: Gavin Moore.
3B: CBE: Chase Harlan.
