Methacton knocks off Owen J. Roberts in battle of early-season unbeatens
BUCKTOWN >> Methacton senior outfielder Nolan McCloskey was on a Warriors team in 2019 that was the program’s first to finish atop the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division at the end of the regular season.
Then came a cancelled sophomore campaign and fifth-place division finish as a junior for the Warriors last season.
Yet the four-year varsity outfielder felt he and his teammates could turn things around in his final season. They took a step toward proving themselves right on Monday afternoon when they earned a 3-1 Liberty Division victory over Owen J. Roberts in a battle of early-season unbeatens.
“We proved today that last year was a fluke of a year,” McCloskey said. “We’re back and ready for business all around.”
.@MW_Baseball2017 sophomore Kross Howarth, right, threw six strong innings and drove in two runs, and Nolan McCloskey scored twice in Methacton’s win over OJR on Monday. pic.twitter.com/DEImgrPnlh
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) April 4, 2022
A strong two-way performance from sophomore Kross Howarth led the way for the Warriors. He picked up the pitching win after allowing just one run in six innings and also drove in two of his team’s runs at the dish.
“It was amazing pitching against a great team,” Howarth said. “I had my brothers behind my back, and it was awesome.”
Owen J. Roberts (3-1, 1-1 PAC) entered with non-league wins over Quakertown and Wilson and a decisive division win over Boyertown, while the Warriors (4-0, 2-0 PAC) came in off victories over Wissahickon, Norristown and Cheltenham.
Thursday’s matchup of two teams who have league championship aspirations was a good chance for both squads to see where they stand early in the year.
“Our coach touched on it: it’s easy to win one game, two games, three games but as you keep winning games, it’s hard to come and show up every time,” said Owen J. Roberts senior shortstop Dean Mihos, whose solo homer gave the Wildcats their only run. “That’s definitely something that the sting of this loss is going to help us try and come out and win out the rest of the season. I think the adversity early on is good.”
The Warriors got on the board early when McCloskey led off the top of the first with a single then scored on a two-out single by Howarth.
Howarth spotted himself a 2-0 lead in the third when he hit a sac fly with the bases loaded to score junior shortstop Mike Christian, who led off the inning with a bunt single.
A patient approach knocked OJR junior lefty Zach Brockner (4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) out of the game after four innings.
“It’s very important to be selective off a good pitcher like that,” McCloskey said. “We knew he was a little wild getting into it and we just had the boys on our back and we were able to put good solid contact on the ball, get bunts for hits, solid hits all-around.”
Howarth kept the Owen J. Roberts offense off the board through the first five innings, stranding a runner on second in the first and runners on second and third in the second inning before staying out of trouble for the most part in the next three innings.
Mihos led off the sixth with a solo homer to make it a 2-1 ball game and the Wildcats threatened for more, getting runners on first and second with one out. But Howarth beared down once again, striking out the next two hitters to finish off his day.
“I was just thinking, ‘I just need to throw a strike,’” Howarth said of escaping the jams throughout the game. “I just need a strike first pitch every at-bat and it was great.”
Howarth used a powerful fastball and sharp slider as well as a change-up to hold the Wildcats to four hits. He struck out nine batters and walked three in his first varsity start.
“I think he relied on the slider a lot and commanded the outside part of the plate a lot and we did not adjust,” Mihos said. “We didn’t get up on the plate and we didn’t go the other way with the ball enough.”
McCloskey led off the top of the seventh with a double, and junior outfielder Bobby Kleckner knocked him in with a single to add an insurance run for the Warriors before junior Tyler Weil-Kaspar finished off the win in the bottom of the inning to earn the save.
McCloskey (2-for-4) and Kleckner (2-for-3) both had two-hit days for the Warriors. Senior outfielder Kyle O’Connor (2-for-4) had a pair of knocks for the Wildcats, while sophomore Tyler Brashear (3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) was strong in relief of Brockner.
Methacton finished 11-9 overall last season but went just 2-8 in a division that had four District 1 playoff teams, the District 1-6A runner-up and a PIAA semifinalist. Monday gave a glimpse that the Warriors have a chance to make a quick climb back to the top of the division.
“Last year we were toward the bottom of the PAC where we were fifth in the (Liberty Division) standings, but we returned a lot of our varsity starters from last year,” McCloskey said. “We have more experience than other teams.”
OJR went 11-5 last season, finished third in the division and went to the District 1-6A playoffs.
The Wildcats are another squad with a lot of returning experience, including all-league players Mihos and Ethan Sabatino, and despite Monday’s loss are excited about the rest of the season holds.
“We’ve got a lot of returning fielders, a returning lineup, so we feel really good about our ability to field the ball and hit the ball,” Mihos said. “We have some younger pitchers coming up that are above-average pitchers and can really command the strike zone. There’s a lot of positivity. Unfortunately we didn’t get the win today, but you have those games happen and we’ll bounce back.”
