Nick Rowland (right) and Danny Shubert high-five after Rowland scored in the fourth. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

by Jonathan Vander Lugt

It’ll be overshadowed by the joy following Friday’s win over Malvern Prepatory School, where Springside Chestnut Hill Academy clinched a share of Inter-Ac’s baseball title, but the Blue Devils’ victory Thursday against William Penn Charter School was just as important.

At 5-3 in the conference, needing to play (and win) a back-to-back against the Quakers and the Friars to tie MP for a conference title, SCH ace Gunner Hayes spotted the Quakers with an early 5-0 lead Thursday, after a one-run first, and a four-run burst in the second.

“We know that’s important to just play our game,” said Nick Rowland, who didn’t seem like he was particularly worried when the Blue Devils fell into an early hole. “We don’t get concerned with what’s going on in the other dugout. We know that we’re going to be successful come the end of the game.”

Penn Charter’s lead withered away as fast as it was built. Ian Diaz knocked in SCH’s first run in the bottom of the third (answered by a Quaker run in the next half-inning) before the Blue Devils rolled to a four-spot in the next.

Santino Primerano pitched the first three well enough for PC, but he gave way to Brendan Cellucci (who had pitched the day prior) in the fourth.

Cellucci, the six-foot-something southpaw who on a good day sits in the low-90s with his fastball, was flat. He struggled with his spots, couldn’t get his velocity up, and served up meatballs to SCH hitters. The scoring started with Kyle Williams’ seeing-eye RBI single (6-2), followed by a double that Rowland roped into the left-center gap, driving Williams in (6-3).

Chris Alleyne walked, and Ian Diaz hit another RBI single (6-4). That’s two big knocks for Diaz, whose day wasn’t yet done. Danny Shubert’s groundout notched the fourth run of the inning (6-5). By then, Cellucci was done, having given way to Harrison Timberlake. Hayes struck out looking to end the frame, but by then, the seeds for a comeback had been sown.

“They just don’t surrender,” said SCH coach Joe Ishikawa.

Aidan Frye did surrender a Penn Charter insurance run in the sixth, though. Frank Driscoll reached on a walk, and advanced on a steal when Alleyne couldn’t corral an otherwise well-thrown ball. Sammy Siani struck out, and Dom Toso reached on a fielder’s choice that didn’t produce an out.

Facing the heart of the Quaker lineup, Frye bore down and struck the other Siani brother out—to fan both in the same game, let alone inning, is a rare occurrence—before Kenny Bergmann blooped a single into shallow right, scoring Driscoll. The score was 7-5.

Remember Ian Diaz and his two RBI hits already? Well, the bottom of the sixth most certainly belonged to him. Rowland reached on a ground ball to the shortstop, when his speed forced a throwing error before Alleyne came up next and hit a well-struck ball into the glove of Sammy Siani out in right. With five outs left in the game, Diaz came up and smacked a home run over the left field fence, knotting the game and sending his teammates into a frenzy.

“The young guys are the ones who really picked it up and won this game for us,” Rowland said. The fresh-faced Diaz is just a junior, and Frye is a sophomore. He would come back into the fray later. “They stepped up.”

“Those last three innings were the most important,” Rowland said. “We won the final nine.”

Outside of getting charged with a hard-luck run in the sixth, Frye pitched well in his two innings of relief. Penn Charter went down harmlessly in the seventh, with just a hit-by-pitch breaking up a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to third.

In the bottom half, Frye came up big again. Jack Cucinotta hit a double to lead off the frame before Siani walked Matt Hoffman intentionally, setting up force-outs at three bases. Jack Elliot hit a swinging bunt back to the Siani, who rushed a throw to second base. It was wide, loading the bases for Frye—with nobody out. The tension was palpable.

Penn Charter was drawn in to facilitate a force-out to home, and Frye hit a soft grounder up the middle—one that would have been a tailor-made double play at normal infield depth. Because the Penn Charter infield was drawn in by 20 feet, they couldn’t react. The ball snuck through, allowing Cucinotta to score and end the game. Frye made sure he touched the bag at first before his teammates mobbed him in celebration.

That celebration was short-lived, however, as the Blue Devils knew they had to be back on their A-game for the tilt at Malvern Prep Friday. There, they upset the Friars 6-5, clinching a share of the league title in a year that consistently defied expectations.

“This is not by accident,” Ishikawa said. Despite that, he said, “No one gives us anything.

“We’re never ranked. In the state tournament, we’re the sixth seed, with four teams in front of us that we’ve beaten.

“It makes us tougher. We’re not rah-rah. That’s not who we are, but it galvanizes us, and brings us closer together.”