Swiger’s clutch hit helps SOL A/C to title
PHILADELPHIA >> Different players have had different sweet spots at Citizens Bank Park over the lifespan of the stadium.
Cole Swiger’s is the left field line. The recent Upper Dublin graduate and soon-to-be Bloomsburg outfielder played two games in CBP this week and once in each game, laced a double just inside the left field paint and down into the corner.
Friday, in the Carpenter Cup championship game, Swiger’s extra base hit in the sixth was the one that allowed the comeback kids SOL American/Continental to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Catholic League.
“The kid leaves me speechless sometimes,” SOL A/C and Upper Dublin coach Ed Wall said. “He does a lot of the little things but also comes up big like that. He’s found that left field line, he’s hit the ball hard the last couple games and it’s been huge for us. He’s a rally starter, you get him on base and it means runs for us. That’s what he’s been like for the last four years.”
North Penn’s Nate O’Donnell led off the sixth by getting hit by a pitch out of the No. 9 spot and moved up on a passed ball. Swiger then put a 1-2 pitch down the line and onto the warning track dirt, giving O’Donnell all the time he needed to race and turn what had been a 2-1 PCL lead into a 2-2 tie.
“I was waiting on an inside pitch and he threw me one two pitches later and I just tried to put my bat on it,” Swiger said. “It was already inside so I kind of just turned on it and it leaked through and got inside that left field line. I’m liking the left field line this week.”
The outfielder said from what he saw, the ball got a little caught up in left, which allowed him to get two bases but more importantly, get the run home.
Swiger would then advance on a single by CB East’s Cameron Komonchak, putting men at the corners for CB West’s Thomas Philipps. Philipps ripped a double of his own into center field, bringing in Swiger for what turned out to be the winning run.
“Philipps has been so clutch this whole run, he’s hitting the ball so hard,” Swiger said. “I kind of expected it. Cam got me over to third, and he’s also been hitting the ball hard. Our second wave, we’ve been coming through in the clutch this week and it’s something you don’t want to rely on, but it’s such a great lineup and so much fun.”
Swiger, who went 3-for-6 in the tournament, also drawing a walk in the semifinal, showed a lot of poise with two strikes. Friday, it was his double with two against him while he worked out of a 3-2 count to draw that ninth inning walk in the semis.
He said it’s all about the mental approach in those spots.
“I look at it like I’m in an 0-0 count,” Swiger said. “I can expect an off-speed pitch or a pitch on the corner but I’m really just trying to hit the ball hard and that was it, I just try to keep it simple.”
Friday’s win delivered the first-ever title to the SOL American/Continental squad. Swiger said he was flipping through the event’s program and saw that the franchise had never won, so it was a little extra motivation for the team to finish things off.
Swiger had a tremendous year at Upper Dublin, first with the District I champion football team, then in indoor track and leading the Cardinals to an SOL American baseball title in the spring. He’ll still be playing ball next year at Bloomsburg and this summer in the Perky League, but Friday marked his last outing in a UD hat.
Aside from his high school coach, Swiger also got to win a title with teammates Justin Horn and JT Breslin. He said it was a little bit of an unexpected ending, giving the quality of teams in the tournament, but Swiger felt like it was a fitting cap to a decorated high school career.
“It’s tough to think about that this is my last time wearing Upper Dublin and representing my school,” Swiger said. “It was awesome to do it out here with Coach Wall, JT and Justin. It’s unforgettable to do it here at Citizens Bank Park, it’s awesome to come out with a win but I just really wanted to enjoy it and soak up as much as I could this whole week. It was a lot of fun.”
