Pitching, defense allows Radnor to slip past Unionville
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> For anybody who was wondering if pitching and defense can still win baseball games, look no further than Radnor’s opening round District 1 5A Playoff clash Monday at Unionville.
The Raiders managed just two infield hits, but still found a way to edge the Longhorns 4-3 and advance. Homers and other extra base hits may be sexier, but Radnor took full advantage of lefty starter Austin Marx’s near complete-game effort on the mound, and also benefitted from some outstanding defense behind him.
“We didn’t hit well, but that’s playoff baseball,” said Radnor head coach Mark Jordan. “We’ve been around a long time and we’ve seen a lot of playoff games and if you have to pick it, we’ll take pitching and defense.”
Seeded ninth, Radnor improves to 10-7 overall and earns another shot at Central League rival Strath Haven in quarterfinal action on Wednesday. The Panthers are the top seed.
“We were fortunate today, but we think we have a good ball club,” Jordan said. “We are going to need more than two hits against Strath Haven on Wednesday. We’ve faced them twice and they beat us a couple times pretty good.
“But we won’t back down. We have some guys that I call ‘dudes.’ We feel good about it. We will go after it.”
For first-year head coach Chris Valis, it was a difficult ending to a productive season at Unionville. The eighth-seeded Longhorns fall to 11-7 overall.
“We talked all week that this game was going to come down to one or two plays,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we were on the right side, but we weren’t today.
“But I am still so proud of the guys. Our hearts break for the seniors.”
Deadlocked at 1-1, the turning point came in the top of the second inning when the Raiders scored three times without the aid of a hit. Unionville starter Stevie Thomas walked the first two batters, and then after striking out the next two, there was a miscommunication with his catcher on a weak fly ball near the third base line.
After the ball dropped in fair territory, Thomas inadvertently booted the ball and the runners scored all the way from second and first.
“We got fortunate on that play, where (Unionville) threw the ball around a bit,” Jordan said. “The team that throws the ball around less, usually wins.”
Thomas then hit the next two batters and served up a walk with the bases loaded before exiting.
“It kind of leaves you with that feeling in the pit of your stomach to know that we played so hard and just came up short,” Valis said.
The ’Horns had multiple runners in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings and managed just one run off of Marx. The threat ended in the fourth with one of Manx’s seven strikeouts.
In the fifth, Drew Delcollo singled and later scored on an RBI hit by Jack Regenye. But with a runner on third, Marx notched another huge strikeout, and then second baseman Danny Rosenblum ended it with a spectacular diving catch.
“It changed the momentum,” Marx said. “Everything is kind of a blur but I do remember the diving play by (Rosenblum). I thought, ‘oh my goodness.’ It was great.”
In the sixth, Radnor got another diving gem by outfielder Flynn Ryan.
“We usually field the ball pretty well,” Jordan said. “We had a couple hiccups late, but we had a couple diving plays in the outfield, and the play by Danny in the sixth was huge. It saved a run.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Unionville’ Scott Hansen reach base on an error and scored on another, putting teammate Grant Hineman aboard and chasing Marx. A steal and a wild pitch moved Hineman to third with two out, but reliever Owen Lewandowski got a ground out to finish it off.
“Road playoff wins are tough to come by so we will enjoy this one,” Jordan said.
“Momentum is so fickle and it changes so quickly,” Valis added. “(Radnor) played great defense and made the plays when they needed them. I couldn’t ask any more from our hitters – they put the ball in play and hit it hard.”
In all, Manx scattered five hits in sixth and a third innings of work, allowed just two earned runs and did not walk a single batter.
“No walks? That’s pretty good,” he said.
“(Unionville’s) lineup is pretty darn good – they are pretty powerful,” Jordan added. “But Austin was around the plate the whole time.”
The only major miscue of his near 80-pitch outing came in the first inning when Stevie Thomas blasted a first pitch over the left field fence. Marx also had one of the Raiders’ two hits. Senior infielder Mike Sears had the other.
“I would rank Austin’s outing a 9.5 out of 10,”Jordan said. “The home run ball in the first was probably his only real mistake. He mixes his stuff up very well with a two-seam (fastball) and a curve.”
Longhorns’ long reliever Scott Hansen fanned six and retired 13 of the 14 batters he faced. And fellow senior Sean Matson sent down all three of the batters he faced in the seventh, including two strikeouts.
“Both of our relievers kept us in the game and gave us a chance,” Valis pointed out.
Radnor 4, Unionville 3
Radnor 130 000 0 — 4
Unionville 100 010 1 – 3
HR – Thomas.
WP – Marx. LP – Thomas.
