Mathes gets a big assist in powering Marple Newtown to states win

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MANHEIM TWP. >> Before he took the mound for the bottom of the fifth inning Monday, Marple Newtown starter Cameron Mathes knew it would be a do-or-die frame.

Nursing a one-run lead, with the heart of the Ephrata order due up and time quickly running out on the District 3 champion Mounts, Mathes’ mind crept as close to worry as the preternaturally calm junior will allow during a start.
When the first two batters reached on a walk and a single, and a misplaced outfield relay advanced them to second and third, cracks could’ve formed in Mathes’ poise.

Instead, on a day where Mathes needed little assistance, his fielders came to his aid at the perfect time.

Nick Molinaro, via the relay of first baseman Corey Woodcock, gunned out a runner trying to score at the plate on a fly ball to right, and Mathes brilliantly navigated the final two innings to secure a 4-2 win for Marple in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAA tournament at Manheim Township’s Westfield Insurance Park.

Marple (19-7), the fifth seed from District One, advances to play the district’s runner-up, Council Rock North, which topped District 12 runner-up Father Judge, 2-1, Monday. The game Thursday will be at a neutral site to be determined.

Memories of Monday’s disastrously sloppy second inning crept into Mathes’ mind when the fifth got off to a rocky start. That’s when Ephrata (21-6) scored twice on just one hit, executing double steals on two separate occasions with runners on first and third, outfoxing Mathes on pickoff attempts to first. By the time shortstop Ricky Collings’ throws reached the plate, both Adam Schwartz and Nick Auker had swiped the bags and scored.

“We were a little flat coming out,” Mathes said. “We weren’t ready for it, I guess. They were running on us pretty good. They had some fast guys. We just kind of came out a little flat and didn’t really make the right throws, make the right plays.”

So when Nate Fassnacht walked and pitcher Dillon Good reached in the fifth, Mathes feared a repeat.

But he steeled himself, with a literal assist from Molinaro. Mathes got Chase Weik to pop out meekly to first, then Schwartz lined one to Molinaro. The ball hung up in the breeze, so Molinaro leapt to catch it, then fired in stride to Woodcock, who relayed to Brian Protesto at the dish to slap the tag on Fassnacht’s back in time, sending the Tigers sailing into the dugout on a momentum high.

“It’s just such a confidence booster, because now they’re all dejected,” Molinaro said. “It’s our advantage now, and we finished the game off strong.”

Mathes held on to it, retiring the next six batters in order. He finished with a strikeout of Fassnacht, his seventh of the day, against three singles and three walks. Mathes needed 107 pitches to complete his eighth win of the season, retiring the last eight Mounts he faced.

The Marple bats adapted in step with the defense. Good, the Nyack College-bound senior with nine wins to his record this season, kept Marple hitters off balance for the first three innings. Wary of Marple’s ability to turn around the hard stuff, Good adeptly mixed in his off-speed arsenal, expanding the strike zone wide to righties.

But his reliance on breaking balls caught up to him in the fourth. Collings led off with a double, Mathes singled and Molinaro walked to load the bases with two out. Brian Reynolds, who was fooled on a curveball in his first at-bat in popping out to the mound with two on, stepped in.

This time, he was ready, turning on a 2-1 hook that Good hung and clubbing a ball over left fielder Andrew Thomas’ head. Thomas, who stumbled tracking the ball as it two-hopped off the wall, was too slow with his throw, allowing Molinaro to score — through manager Steve Smith’s stop sign at third — and make it 3-2.

“He threw me the third curveball of the at-bat,” Reynolds said. “I took the first two, and that one he left hanging, and I took it to left field.”

The Ephrata pitcher tipped his hat to the Tigers’ batters for changing their approach.

“Towards the end of the game, they started jumping on that first-pitch curveball,” Good said. “I had been throwing that a lot and towards the end, they really started jumping on it. When a team adjusts like that, it definitely makes it a lot harder.”

That the decisive hit came from the eight-hole in Marple’s order was even more demoralizing … and indicative of the depth that has powered the Tigers this far into the postseason.

“One through nine, our depth is outstanding,” Molinaro said. “Even our bench is good. It’s just whenever people play us, it’s scary to face all of us because they realize that every batter can do some damage to them. I guess Ephrata realized that today.”

Marple squandered chances to tack on runs in the fifth and sixth, finally adding cushion in the seventh. Bobby Steven singled with one out, and a pair of walks loaded the bases and ended Good’s day. Luke Cantwell lofted a medium-depth fly to right, and Steven scooted home on the sac fly to post run No. 4.

Not that Mathes needed it. He mowed through the Mounts in the sixth and seventh, accentuating each inning with a K in booking his third win in as many postseason starts.

“He’s got a golden arm, as we tell him,” Reynolds said. “Whenever he’s on the mound, I know we can win.”

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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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