District 1-6A Baseball: Spring-Ford makes music in 8-1 first-round win over Coatesville

ROYERSFORD >> The Spring-Ford baseball team was suffering from quiet bats for much of the season.

So the day of the Rams’ opening-round game in the District 1-6A tournament, head coach Rick Harrison had an idea: combat the quiet with some music.

“Walk-up songs,” sophomore designated hitter Logan Babore said.

“Coach got it going,” senior shortstop Nick Flores said. “We chose (our individual songs) this morning. It definitely brought the energy some more.”

With the music loud ahead of each Ram batter, their bats followed suit as Spring-Ford broke out for 13 hits and scored a run in five of its six at-bats in an 8-1 win over No. 20 seed Coatesville in the first round of the District 1-6A playoffs Monday at Ram Stadium.

Babore was the Rams’ player of the game belt winner after going 3-for-4 with an RBI and Flores was 2-for-3 with a triple and RBI to lead Spring-Ford (13-8) into a second round matchup with No. 4 seed and fellow Pioneer Athletic Conference rival Owen J. Roberts.

Spring-Ford’s Logan Babore scores a run against Coatesville during a District 1-6A playoff game on May 20 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
Spring-Ford shortstop Nick Flores throws to first for an attempted double play against Coatesville during a District 1-6A playoff game on May 20 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

Also figuring heavily into the Rams’ onslaught was second baseman Tyler Collons (2-for-2, two RBI) and center fielder David Ruckman (1-for-3, two RBI).

Not to be overshadowed was the starting pitching performance of junior right-hander Ethan Freed, who worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and then cruised to five innings of two-hit shutout ball.

“Team energy, team chemistry is through the roof right now,” Freed said. “Everything was working for the first three innings. I could throw wherever I wanted. Any count, slider, splitter, fastball, any count. I was confident, and the hitters picked me up with scoring six runs in the first three innings.”

Spring-Ford pitcher Ethan Freed delivers to the plate against Coatesville during a District 1-6A playoff game on May 20 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

Sophomore center fielder Nuge Willard (2-for-4) delivered two of Coatesville’s five hits and freshman Trevor Conrad drove in the Raiders’ lone run in the sixth inning.

Coatesville capped its season with a 9-10 record in a campaign the Raiders attacked with a young lineup a year after falling one win short of a place in the PIAA tournament.

“We just didn’t play well,” said veteran Coatesville coach Hal Ziegler. “We stopped playing well halfway through the season and I haven’t figured out why. Just didn’t play well. We thought we’d come here and start a new season and we didn’t do it.”

Coatesville head coach Hal Ziegler speaks to his team after its season-ending loss to Spring-Ford on May 20 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
Coatesville’s Nuge Willard singles in the first inning against Spring-Ford during a District 1-6A playoff game on May 20 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

With underclassmen around the infield, catcher and DH and only two senior starters, Monday was an experience that Ziegler hopes will be a reminder down the road.

“That’s the bright spot. That gives us something to work with next year,” Ziegler said. “You gotta cut your teeth somewhere and you want to win, but you’ve gotta get these guys experience of going through it and I think they’re getting it now. They got it the hard way. Maybe they learn a lesson.”

The Rams got a run in the first after Flores’ leadoff triple and coming home on Brennan McVey’s grounder to second. They seized full control with a four-run second inning that began with back-to-back singles from catcher Ryan Cecconi and Babore. Collins (single), Flores (sacrifice fly), Ruckman (single) drove in runs, chasing Coatesville starter Parker Zook (1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 K).

Freed exited with a 7-0 lead after five innings – the Rams tacked on single runs in the third (Ryan Fields bunt single) and fifth (Collons single) – and Jackson Wowak and Dan Ditterline pitched an inning each in relief.

Coatesville’s Shane Monaghan tags out Spring-Ford’s Brennan McVey on a stolen base attempt in the first inning of a District 1-6A playoff game on May 20 at Spring-Ford. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

After a 12-8 regular season that saw the Rams finish third in the PAC Liberty Division and miss the PAC Final Four, the layoff between the regular season and districts has been a time of recalibration.

“We’re viewing the postseason like a new season. We had some tough times, tough games,” Flores said. “When we practiced (last) Monday, we went back to Day 1 stuff. Footwork, fundamentals, bunt Ds. That really just sprung us forward into just playing good fundamental baseball right now.

“We’re viewing it as a reset button, just to go out there and play our game, I think we really flowed together nicely.”