Pennridge’s bottom of order comes through in District 1-AAAA final

WORCESTER >> Council Rock North right hander Gavin Ferrandino was off to a strong start, retiring the first five batters he faced.

But then he ran into Riley Hager, Jason Souder and Luke Nuneviller, whose timely swings forever pushed control into Pennridge’s favor in this District One Class AAAA Final at sunny Methacton High School.

“Jason Souder, who has put some good swings on the ball for us, puts one down the line and we score a run and then then Luke comes up and follows it up with a base hit up the middle,” Rams coach Tom Nuneviller said. “We end up getting the big hit from Jason, smoking that double and scoring that first run, and then Luke follows that up. And now we can breathe a little bit.

“We got (starter Andrew) Mayhew a little bit of breathing room out there on the mound. He doesn’t feel like he has to be perfect.”

There were two outs in the top of the second when Hager smacked a hard-hit ground ball that bounced high over the glove of Indians third baseman Tyler Nowmos for the first hit of the contest.

Souder roped a double down the right-field line, scoring Hager, and then Luke Nuneviller hit a chopper that found its way to center field, increasing the margin to 2-0. They didn’t know it at the time, but Pennridge already had all the runs they would need to clutch their first district title trophy since 1987.

“I got a good pitch, had a good swing on it,” said Souder, who — in a game dominated by pitching — provided the only extra-base hit of the contest.

“We knew these guys were good,” said the Rams’ DH. “They were the six seed, they beat everybody they had to — just like us. We knew we had to get up early and our pitching would hold up.”

That it did, so much so that the scoreboard still read 2-0 when the game headed into the top of the fifth.

Again, the bottom of the order came through for the Rams, as No. 9 hitter Mitch McLeod belted a long fly ball to left that Rock North left fielder Matthew Shenot could not handle, enabling McLeod to reach on an error, making it easily to second.

Leadoff man Dan Long moved McLeod over to third on a groundout, and then Andrew Fantaskey singled in McLeod for a 3-0 advantage.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the margin at 3-1, Souder watched from the dugout with anticipation.

“I knew there was gonna be a celebration so I ran out and hugged everyone,” he said. “I never thought the feeling would be this good. It’s simply incredible.

“It feels amazing. It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever had.”

With a balanced lineup like this — Pennridge’s No. 6, 7, 8 and 9 hitters accounted for three runs and two RBI’s, the Rams could be in line for more celebrations.

“We feel pretty good going in,” Souder said of the state playoffs. “We have a lot of confidence and we feel like we can do this.”