UPPER GWYNEDD- Last Friday night was certainly a night to remember for North Penn’s starting pitcher Brian Maher, who hurled a four-hit complete game shutout against Central Bucks West (5-12 overall, 3-10 league) in front of a packed Hostelley Field crowd.

 Maher threw a mere 81 pitches in his Senior Night shutout, as he helped the Knights improve to  10-6 on the year (9-4 league). 

 “It was a heck of a gutsy effort by Brian tonight. What a great job for him on Senior Night to come out and throw a complete game shutout,” said head coach Kevin Manero. “Our defense stepped up and made some big-time plays late in the game when they were starting to square the ball up a little bit.” 

 Knights catcher Eddie Posavec felt the same way.

 “Brian pitched really well. He had high velocity and good off-speed,” said Posavec. “He pretty much only needed his fastball, they weren’t really catching up to it. He was just hitting his spots and getting ground balls. The defense was playing well.”

 The Knights’ first two batters had been retired to begin their half of the first when Posavec sparked a two-out rally as he belted a triple down the right field line. After Chris Kersey worked a walk, sophomore first baseman Jared Melone slapped the ball back up the middle for an RBI single, giving the Knights an early 1-0 advantage — and that’s all Maher would need. But Bobby Scott didn’t think one run was a big enough cushion, as he delivered a two-run double to extend the Knights lead to 3. 

 “You want to get on them early because you don’t want them to have too much confidence, especially on a night like tonight. The lights are on, it’s a Friday night; everybody gets a little extra energy,” Manero said. “You gotta score first, you gotta put your foot on their throat and leave it there.”

 After given a comfortable lead in the first inning, it was key that Maher shut down the Bucks in the second inning — and that’s exactly what he did, retiring CB West in order. While the Knights managed just two more hits the rest of the way, Maher, and the solid gloves behind him, made sure to prevent the Bucks from starting any type of rally. 

 This win could go a long way in determining the Knights’ seed in the playoffs, as they have just one game remaining on their regular season schedule.

 “Coming down to these last three games, we had to win two of three league games to make it into the playoffs,” said Posavec. “We beat [Central Bucks] West and we beat Hatboro earlier in the week, so now we pretty much control our own destiny.”