Lehighton, Palmerton baseball teams win to set up unlikely District 11 3A baseball final – Allentown Morning Call
SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP. — Lehighton needed to win its regular-season finale to qualify for districts.
The Indians are now one victory from celebrating a championship.
Down three runs after four innings Tuesday, Lehighton capitalized on Southern Lehigh’s defensive meltdown to extend its postseason run. The eighth-seeded Indians produced back-to-back three-run innings in the fifth and sixth, then held on for a 6-4 win in the first District 11 Class 3A baseball semifinal at Parkland High School.
The second semifinal saw the lower seed follow a similar path to victory. No. 7 Palmerton scored three runs on one hit in the top of the seventh thanks to three Tamaqua errors, stunning the third-seeded Blue Raiders 4-3.
Lehighton and Palmerton will return to Parkland for the District 11 3A final Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Lehighton’s victory in the doubleheader opener moved it into its first District 11 final since 2012, when it lost 3-0 to Blue Mountain. Tuesday was the Indians’ second straight win over a higher-seeded team from the Colonial League. Lehighton (12-10 overall) started districts by beating top seed and Colonial League finalist Northwestern 8-3 before taking down Southern Lehigh (13-11).
The Spartans aided Lehighton by coming apart in the field. They committed seven errors, including five in the fifth and sixth innings when the Indians scored all their runs.
“Give their kid credit. They kept us off-balance,” Southern Lehigh coach Todd Miller said. “But they made every play and we didn’t. That’s the difference in the game today.”
Southern Lehigh went to the fifth inning in solid shape. The Spartans led 3-0 on an RBI single by Niko Amory and a two-run single from Andrew Lievendag. Starter Jacob Cassel had held Lehighton scoreless and struck out five.
The Indians broke through in the fifth. Back-to-back errors gave Lehighton extra chances, with Brody Hydro and Donovan Buchinsky collecting RBI singles.
Southern Lehigh committed three more errors in the sixth. The first put Zach Crum on base with one out. He scored when Cody Scherer cracked a go-ahead RBI triple.
Southern Lehigh’s next two errors allowed Lehighton to open a 6-3 lead. That proved sufficient for Indians freshman pitcher Chris Whiteman. He came within one out of a complete game, departing after Michael Miller’s seventh-inning RBI single left Southern Lehigh with the tying runs on base.
Ben Cordova recorded the final out to send Lehighton to Wednesday’s title game. Whiteman allowed four runs and six hits, walked three and struck out four in his 6 2/3 innings.
“He did what he’s done all year,” Lehighton coach Brian Polaha said. “He’s a freshman, but he has guts. I have no problem going to him, because I know he wants to be in this spot.
“He battled. He did what he needed to do, and we’ve done what we needed to do the last couple of games.”
Garrett Perschy was the player most responsible for putting Palmerton opposite Lehighton in the District 11 3A final. Tamaqua grabbed a 3-0 lead against Blue Bombers starter Zach Buck with sacrifice flies in each of the first three innings.
Palmerton coach Mike Svetik opted for Perschy to start the fourth inning. Perschy responded by holding the Blue Raiders without a hit and striking out eight over four innings.
“They got runs by scrapping them together. You’ve got to give them credit,” Svetik said. “Garrett came in, and he was lights out. They weren’t going to touch him. He just had that mojo going.”
Perschy also started Palmerton’s comeback at the plate. His leadoff triple in the sixth led to a run when Buck lofted a sacrifice fly, bringing the Blue Bombers within 3-1.
Tamaqua’s defense then crumbled in the seventh. Two errors and a Perschy sacrifice fly allowed Palmerton to close within 3-2.
A third error on a potential game-ending grounder pulled the Blue Bombers even. Toby Sander then gave Palmerton the lead by chopping an RBI single into left field.
Tamaqua put the potential tying run on third base in the seventh before Perschy clinched a Palmerton win with his eighth strikeout. That set up a district final between the two lowest seeds to qualify for the 3A tournament and a rematch of a season opener. Lehighton won that one 1-0 on March 24.
Twitter @mcall_smiller
610-820-6750
About Us
Free Shipping
If your order is $35 or more, you may qualify for free shipping. With free shipping, your order will be delivered 5-8 business days.
