Outfield tracks down states berth for Collings, Marple Newtown

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WEST GOSHEN >> Steve Smith’s approach with his Marple Newtown outfield is elegantly simple.

“We put our best athletes out there,” Smith was saying Thursday afternoon, “and we tell them to catch the ball.”

Cheekiness aside, there’s a little more to crafting a pristine defensive outfield. And Thursday, at the final sorting stage of the District One Class AAAA tourney, it went a long way in determining the Tigers’ fate.

Marple’s outfield flawlessly pocketed 12 fly ball outs to back a complete-game gem from Ricky Collings, booking a 4-1 win over No. 10 seed Spring-Ford in the fifth-place game at Fern Hill Elementary School’s Bob Owens Memorial Stadium.

The win earns No. 9 Marple Newtown (18-7) the district’s fifth and final states berth, the program’s first inclusion in the Class AAAA states field and its first states berth since the 2008 AAA event. The season ends for Spring-Ford (19-7).

Harping on something as routine as outfield defense seems simplistic. But even at this level, turning fly balls into outs without incident is a valuable commodity not to be taken for granted. At a spacious field such as Owens Stadium, the confidence to play deep to cut off extra-base hits hinges on the ability to rapidly react to balls hit shallow.

“Some of the best athletes on our team play in the outfield,” left fielder Luke Cantwell said. “We do what we can do, getting to balls.”

Cantwell is a perfect example. A youth first baseman/shortstop, the 6-footer’s speed made him an asset as a corner outfielder three years ago. Even among the Central League ranks, outfield flies — especially when fielders track backward or read the ball off the bat as Marple’s positioning necessitates — can become adventures, especially when teams use those positions to hopefully conceal defensive liabilities.

But the Tigers take a different tack.

“You can’t really hide anyone anymore when you get to this level,” Cantwell said. “And I think we hold it down as well as any team in our league.”

Cantwell took care of four outs Thursday. Right fielder Nick Molinaro grabbed two, and freshman center fielder Alden Mathes collected six, including the final out on Collings’ 114th pitch. Add a pop out to Bobby Steven at second and 13 of Collings’ outs were recorded through the air.

“I have the most confidence I’ve ever had in my four years here with the outfield we have now,” Collings said. “Everyone’s fast. They read the ball well off the bat. It’s not scary at all in the outfield. If the ball’s in the air for more than a couple seconds, it’s getting caught. No doubt.”

The only exceptional fly ball of the night came off the bat of Marple’s Scott Hahn in the first inning. He turned on starter Jake Zoller’s first-pitch offering, launching a towering fly to left-center that carried into the trees lining Fern Hill Road.

The round-tripper, Hahn’s fifth homer of the season, surprised no one as much as it did the third baseman.

“I did not think it was gone,” he said. “It set the tone nice in the game because the kid wasn’t throwing many fastballs, he wasn’t hitting his spots. And he made a mistake when I came up. … I was shocked. It just kept carrying.”

That proved all that Collings (4-1) needed. He worked all seven, walking three and striking out two. Save for a Cameron Mathes error in the first, the defense avoided mistakes. Collings allowed four hits. He was touched for a run in the fifth when Owen Gulati doubled, was picked off, then Collings issued two straight walks and Sam Barletta singled home Drew Strocki.

Short of that, the Rams’ bats were silent.

“Today, I was just mostly trying to hit my spots, throw as many strikes as possible and get the ball in play,” Collings said. “Our field is good enough to make the outs.”

“We weren’t barreling it up,” Barletta said. “We weren’t just getting it around and getting our hits. He was throwing inside a lot.”

Spring-Ford, which survived the playback semifinal when Penn State commit Conor Larkin blanked Upper Dublin Tuesday, got no such consistency on the mound Thursday. Zoller was erratic, hitting three Tigers, including two in the third inning to end his day having recorded just seven outs.

A similar script played out for the next three hurlers. Patrick McMahon cleaned up Zoller’s mess in the third, but he ran into trouble in the fourth. Cameron Mathes led off with a single and scored on Brian Reynolds’ double down the left-field line. Corey Woodcock sacrificed, but Barletta air-mailed Larkin at first, allowing pinch-runner Mike Rutecki to scamper home.

McMahon injured his leg on the play and exited, Tom Hughes limiting the damage in the inning. Cameron Mathes led off the seventh with a single that gave Hughes the hook, but Ryne Moore extinguished the threat.

Spring-Ford’s knack for stranding runners never translated to an offensive burst, which Collings made sure of.

He retired six straight after Barletta’s single, including the first two outs of the ninth on (what else?) fly outs, muzzling Larkin to a ghostly 0-for-3 day. Collings walked pinch-hitter Jeremiah Ndjali in the nine-hole, then went 2-0 on leadoff man Brian Varani.

But he induced a lazy fly ball to center that Alden Mathes ran under and covered with two hands, sending Marple’s bench pouring out to the mound. For a group that includes national champions in the Broomall-Newtown Babe Ruth ranks, this accolade claims a special place.

“This is up there,” Hahn said. “This is the first time Marple has ever done this, and it’s awesome for all of us.”

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Matthew De George

Matthew De George
Matthew De George is the Asst. Sports Editor and the lead Union writer for The Daily Times.

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