Quinn Rovner pitches Wissahickon past Harriton in District 1-5A 1st round

LOWER GWYNEDD >> Wissahickon’s first two batters reached base and scored in the bottom of the first inning Monday afternoon.

That’s all the support that starting pitcher Quinn Rovner would need.

The right-hander allowed one unearned run over 6 2/3 innings in a 3-1 win over Harriton and University of Virginia-bound junior pitcher Jack Kochanowicz in the first round of the District 1-5A playoffs at Wissahickon High School.

“I was throwing fastballs and pounding the zone,” Rovner said. “I knew they couldn’t touch it, so I kept working with it.

“(Kochanowicz) brought some good stuff. I had to level him up a little bit and bring the intensity. I wasn’t intimidated at all, just kept working, kept pounding.”

“Quinn pitched phenomenal,” Wissahickon coach Andy Noga said. “That’s why he’s getting the ball Game 1 of the district playoffs. He’s the ace, throws a lot of strikes. He was very impressive. To go out there and out-duel that guy — who we know is obviously one of the best pitchers in the area — that says a lot about Quinn and the type of character he has. There was no fear in his eyes. He wanted the ball in this type of situation.”

Before exiting one out shy of a complete game due to the 100-pitch limit, Rovner struck out three batters to one walk and allowed four hits.

Mike Gorman came on in relief to record the final out, but it wasn’t without a little drama.

Ethan Boni singled and stole second. Adam Fine followed by reaching on an error and putting runners on the corners. Fine, the tying run, tried to steal second, but Wiss catcher JT Culp threw him out to end the game and send the Trojans to a second-round matchup with the winner of Interboro and Academy Park Wednesday.

Wiss’ Michael Steitz started the bottom of the first inning with a single before Steve Loden reached on an error. Eddie Fortescue plated Steitz with a sacrifice fly and Brian Mendhardt knocked in Loden with an RBI single.

“It was very important (to score early against Kochanowicz),” Noga said. “We knew he was going to be throwing strikes early and we knew he liked his fastball based on what we were hearing. We wanted to be aggressive early and put the pressure on their defense. We didn’t really change our style. We’re an aggressive type of team so we just stayed aggressive and hunted fastballs.”

The No. 7 Trojans added an insurance run in the fifth inning. Steitz hit a leadoff single and stole second before scoring on an error.

“We get on, we steal bags,” saNoga, who’s team stole eight bases against Harriton, said. “We try to pick the right counts to go on. We’re an aggressive type of team. We’re staying aggressive the rest of the way.”

The No. 10 Rams scored their only run in the top of the second inning. Jonah Frankel reached on an error and scored on a Nash Solon single.

Harriton left five runners in scoring position in the loss.

“Their guy threw good,” Harriton coach Scott Kurzinsky said. “He pounded the zone and we weren’t able to square any up in key situations.”

Great defense

Both teams made some excellent defensive plays. Wiss second baseman Bryan Hynes and Harriton second baseman Duncan Attig made nearly identical over the shoulder catches on bloopers into short right field — and Attig had to survive a collision with the outfielder. Trojans center fielder Andrew Booth made a diving catch in the top of the fifth inning to save what likely would have been a triple. In the top of the seventh, Menhardt made a diving catch to record the first out.