HAVERTOWN, PA – In a do-or-die game for one of the last spots in the PIAA 6A state tournament, the Pennsbury Falcons beat the Haverford High Fords with an unreal performance from Keller Bradley.
Bradley, who is committed to Vanderbilt, was lights out against the Haverford lineup. In 6.2 innings of work, the 6’6” junior allowed two hits, one walk, and had a whopping seventeen strikeouts.
Haverford starter Gavin McClafferty threw four innings, the first three being solid. The senior allowed three hits and struck out one.
The Falcons opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning. First, Evan Hawkes walked and reached second on a defensive indifference, and Ryan Weber reached on an error. Then, Weber would get to second on another defensive indifference, bringing Pierce Perry to the plate.
After seeing a first-pitch ball, Perry singled to center field to score Hawkes and Webber. Next up would be Brendan Zuckerman.
Zuckerman smashed a fastball to left field, clearing the fence and the bases. The score was now 4-0, where it would sit for the rest of the game.
Haverford recorded two hits from the bats of junior Sam Sturman and senior Ryan Cassidy. Sturman singled on a ground ball to left in the bottom of the fourth, and Ryan Cassidy singled on a grounder to center in the sixth.
After McClafferty, Coach Brian Miller brought in a pair of lefty juniors to shut down the Pennsbury lineup.
Jayden Luistro allowed zero hits and struck out two in his 1.1 innings, while Lucas Rothstein gave up one hit while punching out one in 1.2 innings.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Keller Bradley was pulled following his 108th pitch, and Mason Keith came in for the game for the Falcons. The East Stroudsburg commit ended the game quickly, striking out the last batter in four pitches.
Just like that, Haverford’s season is over. Although this postseason did not go as planned, do not let that overshadow an incredible regular season. The Central League co-champions went 18-1, with their only loss coming to Lower Merion. Having ace Jimmy Boyle miss the last two games with a concussion was a brutal blow for this team.
The Fords are graduating four starters in the lineup and one pitcher. They have a lot of juniors in the lineup who have stepped up big this year, such as Sam Sturman, Shane Durkan, Owen Klick, Andrew Brown, Charlie Pusztay, and Rocco Kelleher. Jimmy Boyle returns next year as a junior on the mound as well and sophomore Cam McCormack has been phenomenal this year, so expect him to improve further as he becomes an upperclassman.