Devon Prep defeats Springfield-Montco for 2nd straight District 1-AA title

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WEST GOSHEN >> Twice Devon Prep came up empty with a chance to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. Freshman Andrew Czachor had the task of not wasting the third opportunity.

“I definitely had butterflies in my stomach coming up. I asked my friend for advice before like I always do – Nick Ramanjulu, and he always gives me words of wisdom,” the Tide’s designated hitter said. “I got in the box, I was nervous and I was like I got to do a job.”

Czachor came through in the task, dropping in a double to right field to score a pair of runners.

Danny Brace then made sure the two-run advantage held up, retiring Springfield-Montco batters in order the final two innings as Devon Prep secured its second straight District 1-AAA baseball title with a 4-2 victory in the final Tuesday afternoon at Bob Owens Memorial Field.

“Once I hit the ball, I knew it was down even though it was a blooper,” Czachor said. “And I knew runs were scoring, and it was definitely a really good feeling hitting it.”

Tony Gallo was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles while Jimmy Loftus went 2-for-3 for the Tide, who claimed their third consecutive district crown – having won the A title en route to a PIAA championship in 2014 before taking AA the past two seasons.

“We were working really hard all year trying to get right back to here,” Gallo said. “Couldn’t do much more than what we did today. Played great, minimized the errors as much as possible, got them out of our system early. And Dan threw a great game and hit the ball around.”

Springfield, which fell to the Tide in last year’s district final to snap a four-year AA reign in District 1, only collected two hits off Brace, both coming in the top of the fifth. The second hit, Cory Cottone’s RBI double, pulled the Spartans level 2-2.

But after Cottone reached base for the third time in the game, Brace retired the next eight batters as Springfield finished its season 6-10 overall.

“We struggled early with the bats. We got to this point in the last three weeks by basically playing good baseball,” Spartans coach Dennis Primavera said. “We were playing really good defense, we were hitting the ball, we were getting good pitching. When you put all those things together, obviously, really good things happen and that’s how we got this far.

“We just didn’t do the complete job today.”

Devon Prep advances to face District 12’s runner-up – either Neumann-Goretti or MaST Charter, who play 4 p.m. Thursday at La Salle College High School – in the PIAA AA 1st round Monday at a site and time to be announced.

“We have a lot of young guys. I mean, four out of the 10 guys out there are either freshmen or sophomores, the kid who we were going to bring in in relief is a sophomore, who we would have finished the game with,” Tide coach Mark Aquilante said. “The kids have come along further and faster than I’ve probably would have expected, but it was a really good baseball game. Those guys, the other team, Springfield, deserve a lot of credit.”

Brace earned the complete-game victory, holding the Spartans without a hit until the fifth. He gave up two runs — both earned — struck out four and walked one.

“I think that it’s taken him three years to really figure out not the stuff, but to figure out what he needs to do from a mind-set standpoint, from controlling his emotions during a game,” said Aquilante of Brace. “He was unbelievably good today.”

Nick Pave took the loss for Springfield pitching the final two innings in relief of starter Matt Gauss. Pave gave up two runs – both earned – on four hits, struck out one and walked one.

Gauss allowed two earned runs on five hits in four innings, walked one and struck out one.

“Matt Gauss actually pitched a good game for four innings, I just thought it was time for a change,” Primavera. “I think it was the right move.”

Down 2-1 in the top of the fifth, Springfield collected its first hit off a Brace as Colin Criniti led off with an infield single. Two batters later, Cottone made it 2-2 as he lined a one-out double to right center field to score Criniti.

“He’s been great all year,” said Primavera of Cottone. “He was third team all-league. He could have been anywhere, with any other team he would have been first team. But he had a good year. We really counted on our seniors down the stretch. I mean, they came through.”

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Gallo, however, began the bottom of the fifth with a double. Tyler Wright recorded a bunt single while T.J. O’Reilly’s walk loaded the bases with no outs.

Pave got Matt Skolnicki to fly out to Noel Franczyk in foul territory then struck out Matt Bevilacqua. But Czachor ended the 2-2 stalemate with his hit to right that took a fortuitous bounce, allowing Gallo and Wright to both score and Czachor to reach second for a double.

“We were in a lot of close games and lot of back-and-forth, but we always seem to be able to come through in the end,” Gallo said. “Finish them off, get the W.”

Springfield took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third without at hit. Cottone started the inning by being hit by a pitch, stole second and went to third on Chris Kelly’s sacrifice bunt. Gauss’ ground out on the next-at-bat scored Cottone.

Devon Prep knotted the contest in the bottom of the third as Owen Leahy – pinch running for Justin Chambers, who led off with a double — came home on a Wright RBI ground out.

The Tide went up 2-1 in the fourth as Bevilacqua stole home when Gauss threw over to first.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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