ORWIGSBURG — Eli Nabholz and Travis Blankenhorn have never played in a high school baseball game at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.
The two talented Pottsville seniors made sure Saturday that their scholastic careers didn’t end without getting that opportunity.
Nabholz tossed a four-hitter and Blankenhorn had a key two-run triple as the Crimson Tide defeated Tamaqua 4-1 in a District 11 Class AAA semifinal at Blue Mountain’s Allen Greenawalt Field.
Trent Barnes added a run-scoring single in a three-run fifth inning as top-seeded Pottsville (20-4) advances to the District 11 championship game for the first time since 2011.
In search of their first District 11 crown since 1998, the Crimson Tide will square off against backyard rival Blue Mountain at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.
Blue Mountain held off Colonial League champion Saucon Valley 10-7 to set up a fourth meeting this season between the Eagles and Tide.
“These kids, collectively, Eli and the seniors especially, have worked so hard to get to this moment,” Pottsville coach Mike Welsh said. “Eli was in control and he was in command all night.”
The Penn State-bound Nabholz was dominant on the hill, retiring the first 13 Tamaqua batters in order and taking a perfect game into the fifth inning before Casey Rother singled.
Getting some excellent defense behind him, Nabholz threw just 36 pitches through four innings and 76 for the game. The right-hander challenged the Tamaqua batters, working only one full count the entire game.
Nabholz finished with five strikeouts and one walk, beating Tamaqua for the third time this season to improve to 9-0.
“They’re very aggressive on first pitches,” Nabholz said. “The plan was to throw the two-seamer early and try to get a lot of ground balls. And I did that.
“I was just trying to work off their biggest strength, which is their aggressiveness, and turn it into their biggest weakness.”
Pottsville took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Blankenhorn singled, took second on a passed ball, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Ty Painter and scored on a sacrifice fly by Darion Jacoby.
Rother’s single in the fifth set up Tamaqua’s biggest threat, as Jake Humes reached on an error and Matt Minchhoff walked to load the bases.
But Nabholz fanned Connor Hartung, then made a nifty scoop of a slow roller toward first base by Daylon Barron and pitched to first baseman Mike O’Pake for the final out.
After making the play, Nabholz leaped into the air, pumping his fist and shouting in celebration.
“We were up 1-0 and they were at the bottom of the order,” Nabholz said. “I just tried to execute pitches.
“I felt pretty good about the game after that play.”
Pottsville followed with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth to break the game open.
Connor Hinchliffe led off the frame being hit by a pitch, and Brandon Daubert bunted courtesy runner Sam Siminitus to second. Gavin Hinchliffe singled off the third baseman to put two runners on, but Tamaqua starter Bo Rottet fanned Eric Wapinsky for the second out.
Barnes followed with an opposite-field single to make it 2-0. Blankenhorn then roped a 0-1 pitch down the down the left-field line for a two-run triple that gave Pottsville a 4-0 cushion.
“Trent Barnes’ hit was big, getting me up to bat,” Blankenhorn said. “I just wanted to put the ball in play and get some RBIs for Eli, because he was throwing a heck of a game.
“He started me off with a fastball the first two at-bats, and he came with a curveball the third at-bat. I was sitting fastball because I didn’t think he was going to throw me two curveballs in a row. He gave it to me and I hit it.”
Tamaqua (14-8), the two-time defending District 11 Class AAA champion, tallied its run in the seventh on two singles and an RBI groundout by Hartung, but it wasn’t enough.
The loss ended a glorious run by the Blue Raiders seniors — Brad Fedor, Hartung, Humes, Brett Kosciolek, Tim Lehman, Nate MacDonald, Harold Moll and Rottet — that included two District 11 titles and a Schuylkill League crown.
“Their accomplishments are there forever. They left their mark,” Tamaqua coach Jeff Reading said. “They made the program what it is today.
“They are going to be missed.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class AAA Semifinal
At Allen Greenawalt Field
TAMAQUA (1) — MacDonald 2b 3 0 1 0, Coleman ss 3 0 0 0, Rottet p 3 0 0 0, Kosciolek 1b 3 0 0 0, Rother c 3 0 2 0, Moll cr 0 1 0 0, Humes lf 3 0 0 0, Minchhoff rf 2 0 1 0, Titus 3b 0 0 0 0, Hartung dh 3 0 0 1, Barron cf 2 0 0 0, Blaker ph 1 0 0 0. Totals 26 1 4 1.
POTTSVILLE (4) — Blankenhorn ss 3 1 2 2, Painter 2b 2 0 0 0, Jacoby cf 2 0 0 1, Nabholz p 3 0 0 0, C. Hinchliffe c 2 0 0 0, Siminitus cr 0 1 0 0, Daubert lf 1 0 0 0, O’Pake 1b 0 0 0 0, G. Hinchliffe dh 2 1 1 0, Wapinsky rf 2 0 0 0, Barnes 3b 2 1 1 1. Totals 19 4 4 4.
Tamaqua (14-8) 000 000 1 — 1
Pottsville (20-4) 000 130 x — 4
E — Tamaqua 0, Pottsville 1. DP — None. LOB — Tamaqua 5, Pottsville 1. 3B — Blankenhorn. S — Painter, Daubert. SF — Jacoby.
Tamaqua IP H R ER BB K
Rottet L,3-4 6 4 4 4 0 7
Pottsville IP H R ER BB K
Nabholz W,9-0 7 4 1 1 1 5
HBP — by Rottet (C. Hinchliffe). PB — Rother. T — 1:12.