SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - "Nothing is easy," Schuylkill South manager Scott Swoyer said as he came out to coach third base for the bottom of the sixth inning Friday evening.
Danny Blugis let Swoyer relax a little bit later in the inning.
Blugis knocked in the game-winning run and outdueled the East's Tim Lehman on the mound to lift the South to 2-1 victory in an Area 2 Teener 15-16-year-old All-Star Tournament game at Schuylkill Haven High School.
With the game tied at 1, pinch-hitter Dylan Brown led off the inning for the South with a four-pitch walk. Logan Levan grounded out to third, with Brown taking second.
Blugis stepped in and battled through a seven-pitch at-bat that featured Blugis fouling off three pitches with two strikes. Blugis won the battle, hitting a hard shot up the middle to drive in Brown and give the South a 2-1 lead.
"I was trying to get my pitch," Blugis said. "With two strikes you just have to look to go to right field, sit on the fastball and adjust to the curve. I got a fastball and took it up the middle."
The East didn't go down quietly in the top of the seventh.
J.J. Spehrley ripped a single to left with one out, and Jake Parobek followed with a bloop single to center. Spehrley drifted too far off second as he rounded the base, and then fell down.
South center fielder Zavier Webb quickly got the ball into second baseman Ryan Wolfe, who chased Spehrley to third and threw to Brown at the bag for the out.
Parobek ended up at second, but the game ended when Harold Moll hit a hard shot to Brown, who tagged out Parobek on his way to third for the final out.
With the win, the South (5-1) clinched at least a tie for first place in the Area 2 Tournament standings. The loss ended the title hopes for the East (2-3), but it can still have a say in who wins the championship.
If the East beat the North (4-1) in the tournament finale this evening at 5 at Steidle Field, the South will win the championship. A North win forces a tie with the South, and the teams will have a one-game playoff for the Area 2 title either Sunday or Monday at Steidle Field.
The Area 2 champion earns a spot in the VFW State Tournament to be held Aug. 2-5 in Bellefonte.
"It is really exciting to play for the title," Blugis said. "The North is really good. So are these guys. We had to come out and play hard."
While Blugis delivered the game-winning hit, it was his pitching that stood out Friday.
The Schuylkill Haven right-hander ended up throwing a four-hitter, striking out six and walking one. The East's only run came in the fifth when Parobek walked to start the inning and scored on a double by Dante Yeastedt to deep left-center one out later.
Blugis retired the first 10 hitters he faced, with six of those outs on infield pop-ups.
"I was throwing my change-up a lot, so it might have been a little out in front of them and making them lunge and pop it up," said Blugis, who threw just 80 pitches, 56 for strikes. "I was throwing it during warm-ups and it was working pretty good.
"It was hitting my spots, looking to go inside, outside. I was looking to go inside and then set up outside with my fastball."
Lehman was able to match Blugis for most of the game.
Making his first appearance of the tournament, Lehman used his change-up and good location with the curveball to limit the South to five hits in 5.1 innings. He walked five and struck out three.
"He did a superb job on the mound," East manager Jack Zelwalk said. "We just couldn't get enough hits together."
The South tied the game in the bottom of the fifth without a base hit. Dominic Piccioni led off with a walk, stole second, went to third on a J.T. Hugues sacrifice and scored on a Mike Ulsh groundout.
Friday's win was fifth in a row for the South after losing the tournament opener 9-6 to the North on Monday. The win streak includes a 7-3 victory over the North on Thursday.
Swoyer credits defense as the key to the winning streak. The South has committed just six errors during the tournament, including none in its last two games.
"I think our defense has been good," Swoyer said. "We were saying to the kids it didn't seem like they were motivated to play. I don't think that was the case. We had trouble with their pitcher but defensively, it kept us in the game. Our pitching and defense has been key." Game Summary