Welcome back for another installment of the Delco Baseball Now newsletter, where we will you in on everything that you need to know in the world of summer baseball.

Today’s edition has a little bit of everything as we saw a state champion be crowned on Wednesday, we had three playoff games, a Phillies collapse, and plenty more.

As always, we appreciate anyone who takes the time to subscribe (for free) to get our newsletter delivered to them every day. Even if you don’t read it, it’s ok. It just makes me feel better.

Prep Legion:

Narberth was in a tough spot after they lost their second tournament game against Norchester 9-3 back on Sunday.

They knew they’d have to grind it out through the loser’s bracket, and they did just that. They won four straight games including two on Wednesday to capture a state championship. If anyone has any insight on the last legion state champion from Delco, please feel free to contact us to give credit.

As far as I know, my 2014 Nether Providence Bulldogs that won the 14U Sandlot State Championship was the last. Shoutout to Arizona Diamondbacks AAA pitcher Billy Corcoran for throwing eight innings and delivering us the walk-off winner in that one.

If this team is any indication, the future of baseball in the Lower Merion/Harriton school district is in pretty good hands.

Delco League:

Not one, but TWO Game 3’s tonight!

What we do know is that if Springfield wins, they will play Wayne. If Aston Valley wins, they will play Upper Darby in a 2021 and 2024 finals rematch, both of which Upper Darby won.

Chester and Drexel Hill will obviously just depend on how the other series go.

It will be interesting to see what both teams have in terms of pitching. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some high scoring games today. If you are in the Delco area, definitely consider heading out to Chester or Springfield to see some high stakes intense baseball.

MSBL:

Unfortunately, me going 1/2 was not quite good enough to crack the newspaper cover, but in a lefty/lefty matchup I was expecting to go 0/2 so I’ll take it.

Joe Nestel was the story of this game, even after wearing a line drive off the ribs during the game. He is a Delco League caliber pitcher who would rather just play here with his boys and there’s no complaints from me.

Ryan Tecco had an RBI double and also a sac fly. Ryan Hodinko added a sac fly as well as the Phillies had some good situational baseball being played in this one.

Calen Reigner will get the ball on Friday looking to send Drexel Hill to the championship game in its first year playing in the 25+ league.

Mid-County:

Dom Ervin skipped our MSBL game to pitch for Clifton instead, and it appears it was a win-win.

Ervin recovered from a rough first round playoff outing to do what he does best, and that is keep his pitch count low and trust his defense. He also has a rubber arm so the pitch count doesn’t really affect him all too much, but it is nice.

Now that the Broomall Gators got bored after winning five of the last six titles, there will be some new blood in the finals with Clifton and the Aston Valley Bombers, which appears to be made up of a good amount of Sun Valley alums and current Penn State Brandywine players.

The championship series will be Monday at Dermond, Tuesday at Sun Valley (Aston Valley Delco League might get priority if they win tonight, though) and Thursday back at Dermond.

Babe Ruth 13U:

It was odd seeing the score of the Broomall-Newtown game being 4-1 in the night game considering how dominant their offense had been so far. They have won multiple games by a 13-0+ score and also put 24 on Mifflin.

This win definitely helped show them that they can win a tight low-scoring game, because it won’t always be this easy for them the later that they go.

BN is just two wins away from a trip to the World Series, and a win Thursday would have them sitting in the championship.

Beep Baseball:

If you missed a few if our previous newsletters, Beep Baseball is baseball for those who are blind or visually impaired.

If you are wondering how the hell that even works, you are not alone.

The players all wear blindfolds to even the playing field. Your coach is your pitcher and they have a set verbal cue (typically something like “set, ready, pitch”) and are trying to match your swing plane so you can hit it.

Once you hit it, you have to run and tackle a beeping football tackling dummy before the defense tracks down the ball, which is also beeping, and secures it.

It is jaw-dropping to watch in person.

The Fire look to be three wins away from defending their title. They will face the Gateway Archers in the winner’s bracket semifinals. If they win that, they will play Friday against the winner of the Indy Thunder and Indy Edge to try and get into the championship game Saturday.

MLB:

Only the Phillies could waste five home runs and a 5-0 lead in a series sweep effort.

Jesus Luzardo is starting to become a problem, he’s just way too inconsistent. The playoff rotation will likely be (in this order) Wheeler, Sanchez, Suarez, and Nola if I had to guess. I can’t see them putting Nola in the bullpen, he’s never done that before.

Side note: Bryston Stott finally changed his walk-up song and immediately had a great day. Maybe it was the additional dad strength added for baby #2 arriving as well.

The Phillies will head up the The Bronx to take on the Yankees next. Taijuan Walker will face Will Warren on Friday at 7:05 PM. Ranger Suarez will face Marcus Stroman on Saturday at 1:05 PM. Zack Wheeler will face Carlos Rodon on Sunday at 1:35 PM for the finale.