First state title, undefeated conference record highlight Souderton’s historic 2019 season

Souderton’s 2019 baseball season will be remembered for a lot of things — dominance, revenge, the gong and, most importantly, the first state championship in program history.

The Indians secured the PIAA Class 6A crown last Friday with a 6-3 win over Central Bucks South at Penn State University. After being limited to two hits over the first four innings, Big Red posted three runs in the fifth and three in the sixth. Trailing 3-0, Conlan Wall grounded out to score the first run and Luke Taylor beat out an infield single to score two and tie the game. Billy Norbeck plated the game-winning run in the sixth inning and Hogan DeSpain added a two-run single for insurance. Taylor got the win on the mound. He settled in after a two-run first inning, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four batters to four walks in six innings. Andrew Curran closed it out with a one-hit scoreless seventh inning.

The celebration after Curran recorded the final out was the culmination of a long, dominant season. Souderton posted a 24-4 record and went a perfect 12-0 against Suburban One League Continental Conference opponents during the regular season and made it 13-0 when it completed the three-game sweep of CB South in the state final.

The pitching duo of Jordan Morales and Taylor played a big role in the team’s success. Morales earned first team all-conference honors on the mound and Taylor was second team. Morales went 4-0 in the postseason and held the opposition to three runs in 27 innings. Taylor went 3-0 in the playoffs, limiting offenses to eight runs in four starts.

During the final stretch of the season, Souderton’s offense came around. After scoring seven runs in their first three postseason games, the bats exploded 42 runs over their last five. The Indians got some help from the long ball. Morales, Taylor and DeSpain homered against La Salle in the first round of states, Moses Clemens hit a two-run shot against Plymouth Whitemarsh in the quarters and Jacob Horton got the scoring started with a solo home run in the semifinals against Neshaminy. Wall got in on the extra-base action with four doubles in the wins over Garnet Valley, PW and Neshaminy.

Souderton suffered four losses this season. The first didn’t mean much — a 4-3 defeat in a non-conference game against Abington that didn’t factor into their playoff seeding. The other three losses — the ones that mattered — the Indians avenged when it mattered most.

During the regular season Souderton was swept — 4-2 and 4-3 — by Neshaminy in two SOL crossover games. The Indians got their revenge in the state semifinals. Morales threw a complete game shutout, Horton homered, Dylan Kummery had an RBI single and Wall scored on a wild pitch to give Big Red a 3-0 win, end the Redskins’ season and send the SOL Continental champs to the state title game.

The Indians’ final loss of the year came against Plymouth Whitemarsh, 6-3, in the District 1 Class 6A quarterfinals. Three days later the team focused its mindset and had a great practice on Memorial Day and came back to beat Methacton and Garnet Valley to earn the fifth and final District 1 playoff spot in the state tournament.

After beating District 12 and Philadelphia Catholic League champion La Salle in the state opener, Souderton came face-to-face with Plymouth Whitemarsh in the quarterfinals. In a rematch that featured the same pitchers as the district matchup, it was all Big Red. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a Morales sacrifice fly, Horton single and two-run Kummery double and never looked back — running away with an 11-1 win in six innings. Clemens and DeSpain each had two RBIs later in the game while Taylor, Joey Santone and Morales knocked in runs in the sixth. Taylor threw all six innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out seven batters to one walk.

Through it all was a gong in the dugout. Every time the Indians scored a run, the player who crossed the plate would hit it with a mallet. The mighty sound added to the opposition’s frustration and gave the Souderton players and its fans reason to keep celebrating.

This was the second time the program reached the state championship game (2007). This senior-heavy squad — featuring 14 upperclassmen — will always be remembered as the first to win it.