Dallastown batters Hatters, moves on to PIAA quarterfinals
The Dallastown Wildcats enjoy winning so much, they're making it a point to do it every time they take the field.
The Wildcats ripped off their 18th-straight victory Monday, beating Hatboro-Horsham 8-1 in the opening round of the PIAA baseball tournament at Red Lion Area High School.
The Wildcats improve to 21-4 and advance to the quarterfinals of the state tournament where they will play District 12 second-place finisher St. Joseph Prep, which beat North Penn 3-1. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday, and will be played at a time and place yet to be determined.
"This time of year, it's just about survive and advance. That's it." Dallastown head coach Greg Kinneman said. "In any way shape or form. We obviously played very good baseball today."
Monday's win was a complete team effort. The Wildcats got outstanding pitching from starter Nick Parker (complete-game two-hitter, while recording six strikeouts), some heads-up plays from catcher Bryant Holtzapple on the base paths, and timely hitting throughout the lineup.
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Hatboro-Horsham got the bats going early against Parker. The Hatters scored a run in the first off a leadoff double and sacrifice fly, and added a long double in the second inning to right-center field.
But that was it for Hatboro-Horsham.
Parker, just a junior, said the Wildcats tweaked the gameplan. In turn, he began getting ahead of hitters while going to more offspeed pitches and breaking balls early in the count. The two aforementioned doubles were the only base hits Parker allowed, as he retired the final 15 hitters.
"Everyone comes in here, they're ready to work. Even on practice days," Parker said. "Today, we took (batting practice) at our homefield, in the rain. Everyone was locked in and ready to go from there."
Once Parker got settled in and rolling, the game seemed all but over.
"They came out gunning. Their kids had a good approach and they had some good swings," Holtzapple said. "He did a great job adjusting. We adjusted to what they did, and look at the scoreboard. He put up zeros the rest of the way."
Offensively, the Wildcats used cagey plays from Holtzapple to get on the board.
After going scoreless in the first two innings, Dallastown got runners on second and third for the senior catcher, and he laced an RBI base hit to tie the score at 1.
Then, with Tye Golden on third base, Holtzapple was seemingly picked off first by pitcher Brian Edgington. Holtzapple got into a rundown, however, and he evaded the tag. While he dove back into first base safely, Golden broke home for the plate and scored, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage.
Holtzapple said the play was called by Kinneman. It was prime opportunity, with the heady Holtzapple and the senior leadoff hitter Golden — one of the team's top base runners — sitting at the corners.
"We really don't talk about it a whole lot at practice. Ran through it a couple times. Most of the time I'm behind the plate for that drill," Holtzapple said with a smile and short laugh. "He called it, we executed it perfectly, and got ourselves a run."
In the fifth inning, Holtzapple was at it again. After another sharp single to center — it was a carbon copy of his first hit on the day — Holtzapple read a ball in the dirt perfectly and stole second base. With two out, Joe Capobianco lined a base hit to center field as well, scoring Holtzapple and giving Dallastown a 3-1 cushion.
"One of the keys to the game, honestly, was the early break that we ran where Holtzapple and Tye Golden scored a run. And then, Holtzapple got a dirt-ball read about an inning or two later, and Capo got the base hit afterwards," Kinneman recalled. "Even though the score ends up 8-1, getting it to 3-1 with those two plays was really huge for us."
Kinneman later added of his senior catcher: "He understands the game, knows how to play the game and understands the game situations."
Suspense vanished in the sixth inning, as Dallastown poured on five more runs. Golden's RBI double scored Tracy Carr and Zach Ness. Parker followed with an opposite-field triple down the right-field line that scored two more, and then Capobianco hammered another triple to dead center.
Kinneman said one of the biggest pluses from the game was his team scratching out some runs — and eventually chasing — Hatboro-Horsham starting pitcher Brian Edgington, a Saint Joseph's University commit.
"Probably the best arm we've seen all year," Kinneman said. "We did a great job of the second and third time through the order, making some adjustments. Our approach was fantastic. That, to me, is the biggest takeaway from this night."