We’ve all been there.
You do something over and over again, thinking each time is going to be the time you get it right, and you still don’t end up with the desired result.
The frustration and anguish continue to build, making it seem like you’ll never complete the task.
Then it happens.
The sun shines bright, the stars align, everything goes exactly as planned, maybe a little luck is involved, and wham! Victory is yours.
The feeling that engulfs you is exhilarating, a celebration that you wish lasted forever. That sense of relief. An overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
Nick Brayford and the North Schuylkill baseball team know exactly how that feels.
The Spartans endured three straight heartbreaking defeats in the District 11 baseball semifinals before finally breaking through Saturday, overcoming an early 5-0 deficit to edge Notre Dame-Green Pond 8-7 in eight innings.
The win puts North Schuylkill in a District 11 baseball championship game for the first time, according to available records. The Spartans will take on top-seeded Schuylkill Haven at 4 p.m. today at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown in search of their first-ever district crown.
“It’s been really exciting,” Brayford said Monday. “It’s kind of new territory for us. It’s uncharted waters. The kids have been through it with football and basketball.
“It’s very exciting (for our program). The kids are real anxious to play.”
Reaching the District 11 championship game is extra special to Brayford, a 1990 North Schuylkill graduate who has been the Spartans’ head coach since 2002.
Brayford is one of the good guys of the Schuylkill League, a friendly, likeable coach who puts his heart and soul into his job and does whatever he can to make his team a winner.
He battled through five losing seasons before an 11-10 mark in 2007. After a 7-12 record in 2008, Brayford has guided North Schuylkill to the District 11 playoffs the past seven seasons. Over the last five, from 2011-15, the Spartans are 77-35 (.688) with a Schuylkill League Division I crown and four straight trips to the district semifinals. Today, the Spartans could notch the school’s first district title.
Still, however, Brayford has had to endure the things that make being a high school coach in any sport so difficult.
He’s been chastised in front of his team by upset parents. He’s been stalked. He’s been called into special meetings with school officials because parents complained their child wasn’t playing enough.
Getting to a District 11 championship game proves Brayford knows what he’s doing and the program is in good hands.
Winning a District 11 title would only punctuate that with a giant exclamation mark.
“This kind of means everything to me,” the 43-year-old Brayford said. “For the school, it’s something I wanted to achieve. It’s always been a goal to get to a district final for me, and hopefully we can win one.
“It really means a whole lot to reach the district final. It kind of reaffirms what I do with the kids. It just shows hard work pays off for myself and the kids.”
Schuylkill League
reigns supreme
With five teams reaching the championship round, the Schuylkill League has dominated the District 11 playoffs so far.
Some facts and figures to digest:
• The Schuylkill League was 7-2 against the Colonial League, with the two losses coming in the quarterfinal round. It’s the first time since 2009 that the Colonial League didn’t have a team reach the finals.
• The Schuylkill League has a chance to win three District 11 titles for the first time since 2009, when Williams Valley (A), Pine Grove (AA) and Blue Mountain (AAA) grabbed gold.
• It’s the first time since the playoffs were moved to Coca-Cola Park that five Schuylkill League teams will play there. The last time five Schuylkill League teams reached the finals was 2007.
Final hurrah
for Pius X
Pius X has been a fixture in the District 11 playoffs in football, basketball and baseball for the past 15-20 years.
The Roseto-based school, however, will close at the end of the school year, giving extra meaning to the Royals’ postseason run.
Pius X won the District 11 Class A football title in November, beating Marian. The Royals will look to add the baseball gold when they face Tri-Valley at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Coca-Cola Park.
Pius X won District 11 titles in 2010 and 2012 and lost in the finals in 2009.
“We’ve been talking about this since February, when we got the news the school was going to close,” Pius X coach Rocco Vonelli said. “It was a big disappointment.
“We had to put everything in perspective. Since this is the last varsity sport going, we knew we had to make some kind of statement going out.”
Eagles, Crimson Tide
prep for 4th clash
Pottsville-Blue Mountain is one of the Schuylkill League most storied sports rivalries. When the two backyard rivals clash in any sport, it’s war.
When a title is on the line, the intensity increases.
Wednesday, that intensity should be at an all-time high.
The Tide and Eagles will meet for the fourth time this season at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the District 11 Class AAA championship game at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.
Pottsville has won two of the three contests, including a 9-5 victory over the Eagles in the Schuylkill League title game May 14 in Pine Grove. This one means more, as the winner advances to the PIAA playoffs.
“It’ll be a very interesting game,” Blue Mountain coach Tom Kramer said. “Pottsville’s good. Pottsville is, I think, the best team out there right now. They’re the No. 1 seed. They’re the league champs. So, until somebody knocks them off, they’re the favorite and they’re the team to beat.”
Looking back in District 11 history, Pottsville defeated Blue Mountain in 1993, 2004 and 2006.
The Eagles, however, turned the tables on the Crimson Tide in 2011, beating Pottsville 7-3 in the Class AAA title game at Coca-Cola Park.
Last year, Blue Mountain used a five-run seventh inning to beat the Tide 10-9 in a wild, back-and-forth semifinal contest.
Blue Mountain has four district titles (2008, ’09, ’11, ’12) in the past eight years. Pottsville is search for its first crown since current head coach Mike Welsh was a senior in 1998.
Should be a dandy.
“You don’t want to see Blue Mountain three times, let alone four,” Welsh said. “They know us, we know them. You have to come out and play a baseball game. Hopefully, we execute.
“We have a ton of respect for them. It’s going to be a battle.”
(Boyer is sports editor and covers HS baseball for The Republican-Herald. Get live updates from all three District 11 championship games on Twitter @pubsportsboss)