(photo of Cole Lombardo via Josh Krautzel/DBN)
FAIRLESS HILLS, PA — It was a bit of a chaotic day for Garnet Valley.
They started off by resuming their District 1 6A second round game against Spring-Ford, so we’ll start there.
The first 5.5 innings were played on Wednesday, and they saw Garnet take a 4-2 lead into the weather delay.
Colton Turner allowed just two runs, both on a first inning homer, across 5.2 innings. Garnet Valley scored one in both the first and second inning. Cole Lombardo doubled and scored all the way from second on a groundout for their first run, and Lombardo drove in Ashton Yau on a single for their second run.
The game remained 2-2 until the top of the sixth, when a squeeze bunt from Ashton Yau scored Harrison Maull to put Garnet Valley back on top. They also got a Branden Capone base hit to double that lead to 4-2.
Things got real interesting in the bottom of the sixth.
Spring-Ford got runners on first and second with two outs when the game was called for weather. Since the winner played their next game at Pennsbury, the game was postponed for Friday morning at 10 AM at Pennsbury where the winner would just stay and play again.
Ryan McGhee, who started Monday’s game, was called on to record the final four outs. He got a strikeout to strand two runners in the sixth to get the resumption started.
Garnet Valley loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but was not able to get any insurance runs. That ultimately would not matter as McGhee allowed just a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh to close out the win.
It’s pretty unusual to see this at the high school level since there are rarely two games on the same day, but Ryan McGhee also started the second game since he threw just 16 pitches in game one.
Game two was against Pennsbury, who may very well be the best team in District 1, and potentially even the state of Pennsylvania with the pitching that they have.
The Falcons scored two in the first, two in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth as they controlled this game from start to finish.
Quinton Shaffer was dominant on the mound for Pennsbury. He threw seven innings with just three hits allowed, one earned run and six strikeouts. He did not walk a single hitter and needed just 75 pitches to get the win.
Tyler Lee led the way on offense with three hits including a double while driving in two runs. Finn Burke also had two hits, while Brendan Zuckerman and Pierce Perry also drove in two runs.
Ashton Yau, Kevin Coleman and Garret Hosterman had hits in the loss for Garnet Valley, with Hosterman also driving in a run.
With the win, Pennsbury advances to the District 1 6A semifinals, where they will take on the winner of this afternoon’s Haverford/Neshaminy game. It would be at Haverford if Haverford wins, and at Pennsbury if Neshaminy wins.
Vanderbilt recruit Keller Bradley will likely start that game for the Falcons, as he pitched most recently on Wednesday. They could save him for Thursday’s title game, so you never know.
As for Garnet Valley, this loss does not end their season. They will play on Tuesday, where if they win, they will advance to the state tournament. If they lose that, they are out.
That is still TBD on who they will play. There’s actually a very real chance they head to Haverford should Haverford lose to Neshaminy. We’ll know more about that later tonight.