UPPER GWYNEDD- Despite allowing just one run in 4 2/3 innings, Brian Maher managed to work himself into a couple of jams in Friday night’s SOL Continental matchup against Souderton (6-7, 4-5 conference). He also managed to work out of them with minimal to no damage.
“[Brian] didn’t have his best stuff. And when he doesn’t have his best stuff, as long as he doesn’t walk people and he forces teams to put the ball in play, most of the time things will go well for us,” said Knights head coach Kevin Manero. “And even though they hit some balls hard, we made a lot of plays tonight and he threw a lot of strikes, and that’s the difference.”
Maher scattered seven hits, struck out two, and walked none, as he helped the Knights (6-4, 6-3) greatly increase their chances of making districts.
After retiring the first batter in the top of the fifth, Maher allowed the next two guys to reach base — one due to an error by shortstop Chris Kersey. With two on and one out and the Knights on top 2-1, Dylan Borawski relieved Maher as Souderton looked to be gaining some momentum.
The first batter Borawski faced was the Indians’ cleanup hitter, John Santoianni. The Villanova recruit skied one to Zillur Rahim out in left field. Perhaps unable to track the ball in the lights, Rahim dropped the ball, but made a quick recovery and gunned out Brian Gibbs on his way to third. Borawski escaped without allowing a run, turning the momentum back in the Knights’ favor.
“I thought [that inning] was a very big turning point in the game. It was one of those tough situations where your starting pitcher is getting hit around pretty good but he’s not letting up a lot of runs, and you have to roll the dice and say ‘Do you go with him here or not?’,” said Manero. “They had the good part of their order coming up, and I thought it was the right time to get [Brian] out of there and bring in a fresh arm.”
Junior Bobby Scott put the Knights ahead early with a solo home run to left center field in the bottom of the second.
“I just kinda dug in and swung,” said Scott with a smile. “It felt really smooth; I just made solid contact.”
Ryan Erskine, the 9-hole hitter, went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk and scored the Knights’ other two runs, both on sacrifice flies off the bat of Kersey.
“This is actually back-to-back games where we’ve had a lot of production out of the nine spot,” said Manero. “To get nine hitters hitting the ball and turning the lineup over for the top of the order, which can be very potent, that’s a big part of our offensive production.”
Friday night’s game was North Penn’s second annual Community Knight at the Ballpark. The game was held at beautiful Hostelley Field and first pitch was at 7:00. Jordyn Steinheiser, a North Penn senior, sang the national anthem, which was followed by a flyover, courtesy of the school’s Model Aviation Club.
“It was nice to see some of the kids come out. It was great to see the stands packed, we had a beautiful night. Nor-Gwyn did a great job of putting on a really good event here tonight,” said Manero. “It’s good for us to play in front of a crowd sometimes, because those 3:45 starts aren’t very conducive to big crowds. So it’s good that our guys can play in front of some people, have fun, and win a ball game along the way.”
