Upper Merion ends season with 8th-inning walk-off win over Norriston

UPPER MERION >> The last game of the season between two teams at the bottom of the standings may not mean much, but don’t tell that to Upper Merion and Norristown.

The Vikings won a highly entertaining Suburban One League American Conference game, 4-3 in eight innings, Thursday afternoon at Upper Merion Area High School.

“It feels nice,” Upper Merion coach Matt Mitchell said. “Especially for these seniors. We started solid, had a tough run there for a while, but finishing on the positive side felt good.”

Mike Hutchinson ended the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Hutchinson, a sophomore, stepped to the plate after Matt Choi was intentionally walked to load the bases. He ripped a base hit to right field and John Paul Batten crossed home plate to end the Vikings season with a win.

That wasn’t Hutchinson’s only big hit in the game. He had a two-run single in the bottom of third inning to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.

“Mike (Hutchinson) has consistently hit over .300 the whole season,” Mitchell said. “He’s done a good job on the mound and he’s been our three or four hitter. We’re looking for big things from him the next couple years.”

The Vikings’ 2-1 lead lasted until the top of the sixth inning.

Norristown’s Tommy Detwiler led the inning off with a solo home run — his second of the season — to tie the game.

“(Detwiler) had a great year with the bat,” Norristown coach Rich Campbell said. “He batted over .400 and I think he was 13-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough runners on in front of him.”

Shan Hammer scored a few batters later on a Charles Grello single to put the Eagles ahead, 3-2.

Upper Merion (5-13, 5-9) tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Ray Scheier hit into a fielder’s choice to score Tony Zevallos.

Each team needed to dive a little deeper into their bullpens, but in much different ways.

Norristown (4-13, 2-12) used Grello in the seventh inning and the start of the eighth. Grello has played behind the plate all season and hasn’t pitched since seventh grade.

“We weren’t really play for anything so we decided to give some people a chance to do some things that they’ve been wanting to do,” Campbell said. “We did a little experimentation.”

Upper Merion went to Jarrett Quinn in relief. Quinn, arguable the best pitcher in the SOL American Conference, threw earlier this week but was still able to strike out five batters in two innings.

“We couldn’t use him for more than an inning or two,” Mitchell said. “We wanted to get him out there one more time for his senior season and kind of walk him off into the sunset.”

Choi started on the mound for Upper Merion and threw five innings in a no decision. He allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out six batters and walking one.

Norristown started Cole Messics, who allowed two runs on five hits in four innings. He struck out one batter and walked two.

This was the last game for both teams as members of the Suburban One League. Starting in the fall, the two schools will move to the Pioneer Athletic Conference.

“We move to the PAC next year,” Campbell said. “That will present us with a new set of challenges. We know there is really good baseball tradition up there and really good baseball teams … It’ll be a whole new challenge for the program.”