Kross Howarth leads Methacton’s offense in win over Norristown

April 5, 2023

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WEST NORRITON >> Methacton’s offense was due for a big game. Coming off a pair of 2-1 wins over Phoenixville and Perk Valley, the Warriors were hitting the ball hard but didn’t have much to show for it.

The results came against Norristown Wednesday.

Methacton scored in every inning, highlighted by a six-run top of the fourth, to pick up a Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division win, 14-4, in six innings against the Eagles at Norristown Area High School.

“We hit some balls hard in both of those games, especially in the air,” Methacton coach Paul Spiewak said, referring to the Phoenixville and PV games. “I thought the score didn’t really reflect some of the really good at-bats that we had. Certainly it was nice to see results happen with runs today… They felt confident coming out of Friday and Monday. Even though two runs is certainly not going to get it done as we move forward here, the good at-bats were really what they were focusing on. Good for them that it reflected today.”

“We were all sitting fastball,” Methacton junior Kross Howarth said. “We were just having fun, not really thinking, going for fastballs.”

Howarth went 2-for-3 with five RBI and two runs scored. His three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning extended a 6-4 lead to 9-4.

“He’s been great,” Spiewak said of his No. 3 hitter. “He’s been – for two full seasons now – under a lot of pressure. He expects a lot of himself, more than he leads on, and others around him – both our opponents and our teammates, coaches – everybody expects a lot from him. That’s been tough, it’s a tough situation to be in. This year I think he’s surrounded by friends, teammates, talent that allows him to relax and try to be himself. I think that’s really helped. We’ve had guys on base where teams have had to pitch to him. It seems like he’s having a lot more fun.”

With the game tied at four, Methacton (5-0, 3-0 PAC, 2-0 PAC Liberty) worked four straight one-out walks to take a 5-4 lead and force Norristown (3-3, 1-2 PAC, 1-1 PAC Liberty) to go to its bullpen. Anthony Daddazio scored on a wild pitch and Howarth greeted the reliever with a three-run blast to right-center field.

“I saw two curveballs, a changeup and one fastball,” Howarth said. “The fastball was in the beginning and it was a strike. The curveball was at the end, it was on the outside half so I took it the other way.”

Tyler Weil-Kaspar hit an RBI double two batters later to extend the lead to 10-4.

“Our guy just got a little bit tired and the belief started to wane a little bit,” Norristown coach Brett Huston said, “but we’re a young team learning how to win, just had a big win the other day – maybe a little bit of a letdown. We’re playing some good baseball, it’s just the little things. We need to clean up the errors and stuff like that… Just the little things, one inning here or there.”

Methacton’s Matt Christian pitches against Norristown Wednesday. (Ed Morlock/MediaNews Group)

Howarth made it 12-4 in the fifth with a two-run single and the Warriors added two more in the sixth to make it a 10-run game. Chase McNully tripled and scored on an error and Daddazio grounded out to bring home Lucas Travetti.

Early on, Methacton did all its scoring with two outs. In the first inning, Tommy Kratz had a two-out RBI double before Tripp Shytle hit an RBI single, putting the Warriors ahead 2-0. Jake Chapman, who went 2-for-2 with two walks from the leadoff spot, knocked in a run in the second with a two-out double. Horwath led off the third inning with a walk and scored with two outs on a wild pitch, tying the game 4-4.

The Eagles did all of their scoring in the first two innings. Brett Murphy got his team on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the first and Logan Sigg’s two-run double put the Eagles ahead, 3-2. Justin Fryer’s two-out single gave Norristown a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second.

“I have confidence in every single one of them that they’re going to do damage every time they come up there,” Huston said. “One through seven, one through six, they have really performed well this year making really good contact. It’s a nice feeling as a coach to have that belief and know that six or seven guys can do it at any time and the rest of them know their role and they’re more than willing to put down a bunt or do what’s necessary for the team.

Through four we were going blow-for-blow with them and they’re a very good team.”

Matt Christian earned the win on the mound for Methacton. He allowed four runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out four batters to two walks. Ty Lohsen threw the final two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out three batters to two walks.

Fryer took the loss for Norristown. In 3 1/3 innings, the lefty struck out three batters to seven walks and allowed eight runs on three hits.