Cantwell, Marple Newtown pass first test in state title defense
NEWTOWN SQUARE — The challenge of doing it again was on the mind of Marple Newtown Monday afternoon.
For starting pitcher Andrew Cantwell, again meant a third time beating Strath Haven this season. For the Tigers writ large, the District 1 Class 5A opener marked the start of the defense of the state title.
On both accounts, they passed the first test.
Cantwell delivered five innings without surrendering an earned run, and the Marple bats provided seven extra-base hits for a 8-2 win.
The Tigers (17-4) can return to states with a win in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, when they host No. 10 Pottsgrove, a 5-4 winner over No. 7 Oxford Monday. With only four states berths up for grabs, the loser of that game goes home.
The vibe from the Marple Newtown dugout isn’t so much trying to live up to last season’s accolades, capped by an unforgettable, walk-off victory in 10 innings in the state final. Instead, it’s for this group to add its name to program lore, hoping to return to the state semifinals for a third straight season.
“We just want to do it again,” Cantwell said. “We’ve forgotten about last year, we’ve moved on. We want to do it again, and we’re just prepared to do it again, and we’re going to do everything we can to.”
Oh goodness Molinaro just tattooed that baseball. 3-run HR. 7-0 Marple. Day is done for Peichel pic.twitter.com/i8QxYXH9Fk
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 20, 2019
The first domino was more granular for Cantwell. He’d twice beaten Strath Haven this year, taking games by scores of 10-0 and 7-1. The left-hander, who entered with a 1.50 ERA, was a perfect matchup for the Panthers, who stacked left-handed hitters at spots one through three in the batting order.
Anything but daunted at the prospect of beating Strath Haven for the third time, he went out and did just that, scattering four hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out six.
“They really have one explosive hitter, and the rest is just your everyday hitters, so you have to focus on that one and get through every at-bat on hitter at a time,” Cantwell said. “It just works out. I was throwing my curveball pretty good, and then when I can give high heat and get batters out, that’s when I’m at my best.”
“The third time, we thought we had it,’ Strath Haven catch Brady Mutz said. “Especially me, I was ready to get him. Third time, he beat us twice, it was time to get him.”
Cantwell helped his cause with two hits, and the hitters around him did the rest. Alden Mathes was 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot, with matching doubles down the right- and left-field lines, then a two-run bomb to deep right in the fourth against a tiring Koll Peichel.
Erik Molinaro a 2-out single to score Alden Mathes, who doubled again. 1-0 Marple Newtown, bottom 3 pic.twitter.com/q44frzJ5yo
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 20, 2019
The big blow in the six-run fourth came courtesy of Cantwell’s batterymate, Erik Molinaro. He jumped all over what proved to be Peichel’s last offering, tattooing a three-run homer into the trees in left.
“I just read the pitcher really well,” Molinaro said. “The way the ball came in, perfect speed. I just got my hands through and drove everything.”
Molinaro drove in four and scored twice. Owen Mathes and Jason Anderson had two hits each.
Strath Haven didn’t exactly go quietly, but in leaving nine runners on base (six in scoring position), they continued a season-long trend of offensive struggles. Monday marked the 15th time in 21 games they scored three or fewer runs.
The fourth inning juxtaposed the teams’ relative offensive capabilities. Haven’s Chris Felder led off the top half with a single to right that was mishandled and left Felder standing on third. But a pop up and two strikeouts later, he was marooned there.
When Strath Haven next batted, it trailed 7-0 on the rally begun by Anderson’s single from the eight-hole.
“We just create something,” Molinaro said. “It keeps rolling, we get hyped, and it keeps rolling.”
Haven threatened to make it a game in the sixth, with Joey Pettinelli allowing two singles and walking Mutz to force in a run. But Alden Mathes took to the mound from center and needed just four pitches to dispatch Peichel and end the threat. Shane Benedict tossed an uneventful seventh.
Mutz, bound for Monmouth, finished his career behind the plate by catching his younger brother, Brett, a sophomore who allowed one unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. It was an apropos passing of the torch from the senior to a talented crop of underclassmen.
“It’s awesome catching Brett because he puts in so much work,” Brady Mutz said. “Having a younger brother out on the mound is cool. … These young guys have a very bright future. They’re all good players, they’re only sophomores. Definitely not the offensive season we wanted to have, but these young guys will figure it out.”
Marple has passed its first test of playing with the state championship target on its back. Knowing the zeal with which they embraced being newcomers on the states scene the last two years, it’s no surprise that they’re embracing being the hunted.
“Everyone wants to beat us,” Molinaro said. “Their goal, if they beat us, they feel like they just beat the state champions. They get all excited, so we don’t want to have that happen.”
