Souderton stopped by Norchester
Bulldogs work back through losers’ bracket to make championship round
SPRING TWP » From his first timely swings to his last, Andy Blum never stopped knocking in runs for Norchester Tuesday, and his five-RBI performance keyed a satisfying 14-3 victory over Souderton in a championship qualifier of the Region 3 tournament at sunny Owls Field.
“I just saw the ball really well,” Norchester’s clean-up man said after going 3-for-4 with a single, double, triple and pair of runs scored. “I was able to work the count, get some fastballs that I liked.
“(The start) we had was huge. We just came out with a really good energy.”
The victory sends Norchester to a 12:30 p.m. game Wednesday, to face the winner of the West Lawn-South Parkland contest. A tremendous postseason run came to a close for Souderton, with a 2-2 finish in the tournament.
“They play very efficient baseball. They execute,” Souderton coach Paul Meara said of Norches-
ter, “and they keep coming at you.”
Norchester plated six runs in the first.
Andy Fisher, Riley McGinley and Austyn Levengood all drew walks off Souderton starter Thylar Summarell, bringing Blum to the plate.
The first baseman smacked a hard-hit chopper to the right side, driving one in to get the scoring started. Nate Cummins and Ryan Cusic drew basesloaded walks and Dawson Stuart knocked a two-run single to left to help build the early 6-0 lead.
“We had a tough time against them last time,” Blum said of the tournament-opening loss to Souderton, “so this time around we wanted to give them everything we had.”
Norchester forced Souderton
Norchester’s Ben Hakun delivers against Souderton Post 234 during their Region 2 playoff game on Tuesday.
him hit so many bombs, I thought, ‘There goes another one.’”
Summarell also doubled, scored twice, and Freed added an RBI in the fifth.
“It was a good ride,” Summarell said of Souderton’s postseason exploits, which included a pair of walk-off wins at Region 2.
Summarell will play ball at Lackawanna Junior College next year and Freed will play at Messiah College. Both capped their Legion careers in stellar fashion this summer, with a good nucleus returning next year for Post 234.
“They got a little taste of this,” Meara said.
Right hander Ben Hakun went the distance for the Berks County League champions, the game ending in seven due to the 10-run rule. Norchester added to its lead with an RBI single by Brian Siket and a basesclearing, three-run triple by Blum.