Upper Moreland scores late to beat Bishop Shanahan in District 1-AAA semifinals

THORNBURY >> To win baseball games in the postseason, it usually comes down to handful of things. Good pitching and defense and cashing in on opportunities with timely hitting.

Wednesday’s District-1 AAA semifinal between Bishop Shanahan and Upper Moreland came down to the latter as both teams get the former.

Brandon Kohn for Upper Moreland and Drew Dolan for Shanahan dueled for six innings before Upper Moreland finally broke through, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to escape with the 2-0 win at Glen Mills School.

Even though Kohn earned the complete game win, he didn’t have his best stuff. The righty ran into to jams right out of the gate. The Eagles got the first two batters of the game on base but Kohn worked out of the first and second with no outs situation.

“I started off slow, they got base runners but I was able to work out of it,” Kohn said. “I was pitching to contact, they were hitting the ball on the ground and the fielders did a great job of making the plays.”

Kohn ran into trouble again in the second. Shanahan loaded the bases with one out, but Kohn got Eagles leadoff hitter PJ Heintz to roll into a double play.

“The couple innings really made the game,” Shanahan coach Brian Boyko said. “Them getting out of some jams there really helped them. And really that’s the difference.”

Entering the sixth, Upper Moreland only had two hits in the game due in part mostly to the excellent pitching of Dolan. One of the Bears’ two hits belonged to Jon Searles. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Searles launched a deep fly ball into left field that one-hopped the fence as Searles glided — a word not to frequently used to describe Searles running — into second base with a double.

“That was the first inning were nobody at the plate and none of our base runners tried to do too much,” Upper Moreland coach Ken Irwin said of the Bear’s sixth inning.

Shortstop Connor Casey singled after Searles’ double and moved Kevin Walder, pinch running for Searles, up to third base. Casey later stole second base, setting the table for Kohn at the dish.

A sharp ground ball off the pitcher’s mound bounced to shortstop Joe Hurley, who threw the ball home, but it was not in time get Walder. A bases-loaded walk to catcher Ryan Lowry later in the inning scored Ron Perrelli, who was courtesy running for Kohn.

The two-run lead was plenty for Kohn as he put the Eagles down in order in the top of the seventh. Kohn finished the game allowing four hits, walking two, striking out three and stranding eight Shanahan runners.

Unfortunately for Dolan, he gets tagged with the loss but his line nearly as good as Kohn’s as the lefty gave up four hits, walked four (two in the sixth) and stranded seven Bears.

“He’s a warrior,” Boyko said of Dolan. “We started out 1-5 this year and our pitching (especially) Drew stepped up and took the ball. In the regular season he gave up one run in 30 innings and he only gave up two today so the kid did a phenomenal job.”

Perhaps the x-factor for Upper Moreland was many of the Bears on the roster just simply have experience winning big games. Not necessarily at the district level but many of the players on the roster were a part of the Senior Little League team that went to the World Series last summer in addition to more than a handful of kids that played other sports for Upper Moreland that got a taste of district playoff experience.

“We played very good teams when we got to World Series and just pitching against them gave me confidence,” Kohn said.

“This group of kids, these athletes, they’re used to winning no matter what sport,” Irwin said. “The football team lost in the district (playoffs), the basketball team went into districts and had a nice little run. We’re (a small school) so our kids play multiple sports. We got every sport covered.”

The Bears will look to keep rolling as they face Radnor Wednesday for the District-1 AAA title.