Even though their paths were different, Quakertown’s and Pennridge’s journeys deep into the Pennsylvania American Legion 2 tournament traversed over some rocky ground.
Quakertown struggled to remain consistent throughout the regular season, but the Blue Jays found their wings in the postseason at the appropriate time to advance to the championship game of the regional tournament. They also played in the Bux-Mont League championship game and lost to Pennridge.
The Blue Jays, who last won a regional championship in 2016, couldn’t solve Norchester’s Shay Geib, who tossed a one-hitter in a 3-0 win Tuesday night. With the victory, Norchester captured its second consecutive regional title.
Quakertown beat Pennridge 7-4 Sunday night to advance to the title game. Ethan Beil went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Brandon Pierce also had two hits. The Blue Jays previously posted a comeback 4-2 victory over Hamburg in which Vinny Pellegrini tossed a five-hitter and recorded 11 strikeouts. Quakertown opened with a 5-3 victory over North Parkland.
“We all believed we could go far,” said Beil. “We struggled sometimes during the season, but we just kept battling through it.
“We really started to come together as a team over the past few weeks. We believed in ourselves, and we all were playing well down the stretch. Everyone stepped up, and we showed what we could do.”
As for Pennridge, it totally reversed directions and fate this season. Last year, Pennridge failed to make the postseason due to the number of regular season forfeits caused by a lack of players.
Before the start of this season, things didn’t fare much different. Pennridge started slow, but it had a seven-game winning streak that helped take the team claim its first Bux-Mont Legion title since 2011 with a win over Quakertown in the title tilt.
“We went from not having a team in mid-March to scrambling to put one together right afterward,” said manager Bob Benamati. “But the kids and the parents helped bring everything together for us. We let the chips fall where they may, and we didn’t have a forfeit this season.
“We had nine, 10 or more guys for every game. Before our first loss at the Legion tournament, we had won nine of our last 10 games.”
Before its loss to Quakertown, Pennridge suffered a 10-0 loss to eventual champion Norchester, which avenged an earlier defeat to them.
“Norchester gave us a tough time,” stressed Benamti. “They played the small-ball game to perfection and better than any other team that I have seen play it. They were down in the count, and they still bunted.
“We made a couple of mistakes and errors at the start of the game, and they jumped on us.”
Benamati stated that he expected eight or nine players to return next season, and was confident his team’s success would generate further interest.
“I’m really happy where we ended up,” said Benamti. “We’ll definitely benefit from going as deep as we did. We’re starting to see it already.
“I think we’ll have a good number of kids in uniform next year, and we’ll get back at it.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
