Sharpe’s two-run home run in 5th sends Plymouth Whitemarsh past Wissahickon

WHITEMARSH >> On his first two-at bats Monday afternoon, the opening pitch delivered to Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Lincoln Sharpe was a curveball.

But as he came up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, a runner on first base and the Colonials trailing Wissahickon 2-1, Sharpe expected to be offered something different.

“To be honest I was sitting fastball,” he said. “Sitting fastball hard, especially with someone on base in position that we were in, I was sitting fastball trying to go deep. And he gave me my pitch.”

Sharpe belted the ball over the left-field fence for a two-run home run to give PW its first lead in the SOL Liberty Division match.

“In the wind, I was looking at it to make sure,” Sharpe said. “But I was pretty certain.”

Colonials starting pitcher Dylan Robinson made Sharpe’s blast hold up, the right-hander capping a complete-game effort by not allowing a run in the final six frames as Plymouth Whitemarsh edged the visiting Trojans for a 3-2 victory.

“He started off a little slow,” said PW coach Chris Manero of Sharpe. “I think he’s now kind of getting a little more confident and getting back to where he was last year. So not everybody’s going to be hot all the time but when he’s hot and he hits, he can hit.”

After a Josh Palutis leadoff single and two errors led to Wissahickon (5-3, 3-3 division) scoring twice in the top of the first, Robinson navigated through the rest of the contest unscathed, allowing five total hits, walked two and striking out four to help the Colonials (5-2, 4-1) bounce back from last Thursday’s 9-3 loss at Upper Dublin

“My fastball felt good and after that kind of just knew my fielders would pick me up after that,” Robinson said. “I knew if I had a feel for the fastball, I could show ‘em the curveball and they wouldn’t be able to sit on the fastball.”

Sharpe finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored – coming home in the bottom of the second on a passed ball after leading off with a double off the fence in right. In the third with a runner on third, Sharpe put a charge on a ball to center but it ended up being caught.

“He’s locked in right now,” Manero said. “I think the ball that he hit to center might have been harder than the ball that he hit out. But he’s a nice weapon that can score runs in bunches.”

With one out in the fifth, Gavin Rocks was hit by pitch to bring up Sharpe, who proceeded to put PW up for good with his two-run blast.

“Today it kind of felt like it was all coming together,” said Sharpe, who in the winter started for the PW boys basketball team that won the District 1-6A title. “I’ve been working a lot on my hitting the past week. We played Upper Dublin a couple days ago, I had a home run there. So I feel like with my coach’s help, especially coming back from basketball,  I kind of lost pitching, hitting.”

Luke Gartland went 2-for-2 with two doubles and two walks for PW.

Palutis was 3-for-4 with a double past a diving right fielder to give Wissahickon a runner in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh. Robinson, however, got the next batter to ground out back to the mound.

“Good things were happening and then we kind of just fell into a lull of the game where we were content with two runs,” Wissahickon coach Andy Noga said. “We know they’re a very-talented group over there so we’re going to see them again so we’re going to be ready for that.”

Trojans starting pitcher Adam Hajdak took the loss, giving three runs – two earned – on six hits in fiving innings. He walked four, hit two batters and struck out two.

“He’s been our guy all season long,” said Noga of Hajdak. “He goes out there, he throws strikes, our defense makes plays behind him and ultimately that’s what high school baseball’s about. If you’re a good pitcher throwing strikes, you’re going to eat innings up, you’re going to get it into the fifth or the sixth inning.”

Both teams have SOL crossover contests Wednesday. Wissahickon, which has lost its last two, visits William Tennent at 3:30 p.m. with PW hosting Cheltenham at 3:45 p.m.

“I think we’re right there with anybody because I think when you look at some of our losses it feels like we played ourselves into those losses,” Noga said. “And I think as we get a little bit healthier as the season goes once we get one of our pitchers back, I think we’ll be a dangerous team the second go-around.”

Palutis started Monday’s game with a single to right, stole second then went to third as Tyler Shilling reached second after an error on his grounder. Two batters later, an error following Kasey Weiss’ grounder allowed both Palutis and Shilling to score.

The Colonials cut the margin to 2-1 in the second – Sharpe opening PW’s half of the inning hitting a double off the right-field fence. He went to third on a groundout then came home on a passed ball.

“Outside fastball, I kind of reached for it but the wind helped it a lot,” said Sharpe of his double.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, the Trojans’ Shane Henrick hit a two-out double to right. The next at-bat, Finn Olszewski reached on an error but Henrick got caught rounding too far around third on the play and was tagged out trying to head to home plate.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Colonials loaded the bases after a Colin Brady leadoff single then a one-out Nick DeLucca single and a Gartland walk. Hajdak, however, got out of the jam with a strikeout then a fly out to first.

Palutis started the top of the fifth with a single. He went to second on Shilling’s sacrifice bunt while a balk advanced Palutis to third with one out. But Robinson got a groundout then a strikeout to keep the Colonials down just a run – Sharpe erasing the deficit with his two-run homer in the bottom of the frame.

“I loved his command, he’s just been throwing a ton of strikes for us,” said Manero of Robinson. “He actually had two walks today which I think brings him to three today for the year. So just the way he’s able to stay in the strike zone. I think he goes out, he just really paces the game himself.

“Again, didn’t get flustered after a little bit of a slow start with the defense. I think just his ability to keep poise and to keep us in there the whole time.”