TAMAQUA — Matt Minchhoff spoiled North Schuylkill’s Schuylkill League playoff hopes by simply doing what every coach asks in that situation.
Put the ball in play.
Minchhoff’s misplayed grounder in the bottom of the seventh inning plated the game-winning run as Tamaqua edged North Schuylkill 2-1 in the Schuylkill League Division I finale for both teams.
The loss prevented North Schuylkill (14-6, 8-4 D-I) from tying Blue Mountain (16-4, 9-3 D-I) for the Division I wild card and advanced the Eagles to Tuesday’s Schuylkill League semifinals.
Blue Mountain will face Division II champion Schuylkill Haven (18-2) in the first semifinal at 4:30 p.m. at Pine Grove’s Stump Stadium. Division I champion Pottsville (16-4) will take on Division III winner Marian (17-2) in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.
“We were able to get a guy on, sacrifice him to second,” Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading said. “We were just hoping to put the ball in play and we did that. They mishandled it, made a poor throw and we were able to score and win the game.”
Minchhoff proved to be the unlikely hero in a game that featured two solid pitching performances and wasted scoring opportunities by both teams.
Casey Rother opened the seventh with a walk off North Schuylkill starter C.J. Steinhilber, who had retired 10 of the previous 11 batters.
Bo Rottet sacrificed pinch-runner Harold Moll to second before Zach Coleman walked.
North Schuylkill coach Nick Brayford brought in ace left-hander Tevin Murray at this point to face Minchhoff, a left-handed batter.
Minchhoff tapped Murray’s first pitch to the left of the mound. Murray fielded it, bobbled it, then threw wildly to first, allowing Moll to score the game-winning run.
“Tevin tried to be aggressive and make a play,” North Schuylkill coach Nick Brayford said. “Sometimes you have to live until the next play. He’s a competitor, he was trying to get an out, and sometimes that’s how the ball bounces.”
The Blue Raiders (13-7, 7-5 D-I) won despite collecting only two hits off Steinhilber — both of which came in the third inning.
Coleman led off the frame by
being hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second by Minchhoff and scored on Nate MacDonald’s double. Daylon Barron followed with an infield single, but Steinhilber induced a flyout to end the frame.
Steinhilber, a junior left-hander, dominated from that point until the seventh in his best outing of the season. He finished with four walks and five strikeouts.
“C.J. threw a great game,” Brayford said. “He didn’t start out the best, and I think it took him until the third or fourth inning to find his curveball, but he found it. He threw strikes. That’s a very good-hitting team.
“C.J. has gotten a lot better (over the course of the season). I’m glad he’s only a junior. He adds a lot of depth to our staff. He pitched his butt off today.”
North Schuylkill tied the game in the top of the fourth when Murray singled, stole second and scored on two wild pitches by Tamaqua starter Eddie Titus.
Reading went with Titus, a breaking-ball pitcher, against the fastball-hitting Spartans for four innings before bringing in senior Rottet, who threw three scoreless frames.
Titus, a sophomore right-hander, allowed three hits, walking one and striking out two. The Blue Raiders were playing for the fourth time in five days, and right-hander Brett Kosciolek was ineligible after throwing five innings Wednesday against Pine Grove.
“Titus pitched for us against Wyoming Area (on April 28), and he has a lot of off-speed stuff,” Reading said. “North Schuylkill is a good fastball-hitting team. A lot of people probably thought we were throwing the game.
“Bo threw six innings Monday against Pottsville, and we were hoping Eddie would be able to keep them at bay until we could bring Bo in. We didn’t want to have to throw him a lot of innings.”
With the league playoffs out of the picture, both teams will prepare for what they hope are lengthy runs in the District 11 playoffs.
The Spartans will be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in Class AA and get a first-round home game.
North Schuylkill went 6-4 after losing left-handed pitcher and starting center fielder Bobby Grigas to an elbow injury in mid-April. His replacement, Bobby Wagner, was lost for the rest of the season after sustaining a groin injury last weekend. Brayford said Grigas may be able to return for the district playoffs.
“I’m happy with how we competed against a very good team,” Brayford said. “Our kids are really competing. The kids are really doing well.”
Tamaqua is the two-time defending Class AAA champions, and will either be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in an extremely competitive field that also includes Pottsville and Blue Mountain.
The Blue Raiders, who went 3-3 over their last six games, have 12 days to prepare for the district quarterfinals.
“We wanted to finish the season on a good note,” Reading said. “A win could give us a home game, and we’d like that. Going after it, that was our focus.”
Game Summary
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (1) — Marlow rf 3 0 1 0, Zahodnick ss 2 0 1 0, Rupinski cf 3 0 0 0, Burke c 3 0 0 0, Murray 1b-p 3 1 1 0, Kropp lf 0 0 0 0, Hummel dh 3 0 0 0, Hillbish 3b 3 0 0 0, Steinhilber p-1b 3 0 0 0, Antalosky 2b 2 0 1 0. Totals 25 1 4 0.
TAMAQUA (2) — MacDonald 2b 3 0 1 1, Barron cf 2 0 1 0, Kosciolek 1b 3 0 0 0, Bates c 2 0 0 0, Titus p-3b 0 0 0 0, Hartung 3b 0 0 0 0, Rother dh 1 0 0 0, Moll cr-pr 0 1 0 0, Rottet ss-p 2 0 0 0, Coleman 3b-ss 1 1 0 0, Minchhoff rf 2 0 0 0, Humes lf 2 0 0 0. Totals 18 2 2 1.
NS (14-6, 8-4) 000 100 0 — 1
Tam (13-7, 7-5) 001 000 1 — 2
One out when winning run scored.
E — North Schuylkill 1, Tamaqua 2. DP — None. LOB — North Schuylkill 4, Tamaqua 3. 2B — Marlow, MacDonald. SB — Zahodnick, Murray, Barron. S — Rother, Rottet, Minchhoff.
North Sch. IP H R ER BB K
Stnhlbr L,1-3 6.1 2 2 1 4 5
Murray 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tamaqua IP H R ER BB K
Titus 4 3 1 1 1 2
Rottet W,3-3 3 1 0 0 0 4
Murray faced one batter in the 7th.
HBP — by Steinhilber (Coleman). WP — Titus 3, Steinhilber. T — 1:42.