7/6/19
Riding a six-game winning streak, Lower Macungie had been playing its best baseball of the Summer.
Head coach Jeff Smith’s team was explosive on offense averaging over 11 runs per game, the pitching was solid for the most part and defensively, the errors were few and far between.
In order to beat a team like South Parkland, which has run the table up to this point in the season with a perfect 12-0 record in the Lehigh Valley Legion Baseball League, that trend had to continue.
It didn’t.
Sure Lower Mac got another solid performance on the mound as staff ace Braden Waller deserved a better fate, but the bats went silent and a few errors contributed in what turned into a 4-1 defeat on Friday on a hot and steamy night at Parkland High School.
“One thing I’ve become good at over all these years is figuring out the body language on some kids on whether they are ready to play or not and I don’t think my kids were,” said a disappointed Smith following the game. “You saw the way they swung the bats early. They were just letting pitches go right down the middle as if they were asleep. You can’t do that against South Parkland, it’s the best team in the league. “
For as good as Waller was, his counterpart, Josh Miller, was even better. The tall right-hander pitched a complete game, allowing just one run on four hits, walking one and striking out 10, including seven straight from innings one to three. A little over a month ago at Church Lane Park, Miller threw a no-hitter in a 10-0 win in a game in which Lower Mac was missing a number of starters.
“We just didn’t hit the ball,” said Smith. “Hey, the kid (Miller) did a good job pitching. “
“The errors are the thing that makes me more upset,” he added. “We’ve been swinging the bats well up until today, but it happens. That’s baseball, especially at this age level.”
South Parkland didn’t hit the ball especially well either with just six hits, but the Trojans made the most of their opportunities with runners on base.
Shortstop Matt Ervolina led the offense going 2-for-3 with three RBI, including an infield single in the bottom of the first scoring Adam Palumbo who had tripled, and a two-run single in the third that gave South Parkland a 3-0 lead.
Teammate Gabe Stay drove in the only other run of the game in the sixth with an RBI fly out that followed a pair of consecutive Lower Mac fielding errors.
Waller, who suffered his first loss of the season (2-1), helped his own cause at the plate with a pair of hits, including driving in his team’s only run of the game in the top of the fourth inning with a RBI double to left center field that scored designated hitter Jadon Diaz from first base. Diaz had reached on a fielder’s choice.
Lower Mac, which had the started the season at 1-4, dropped to 8-7 overall with one game remaining today at home at 11 a.m. against last-place Allentown, a team that it had just beaten a tightly-contested 9-8 game earlier this week. A win will guarantee a top four seed and a first-round home game when the playoffs get underway on Wednesday, July 10.
Lower Mac – 000 100 0 – 1-4-2
South Parkland – 102 001 x – 4-6-1
Waller (6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K) and Jadon Diaz
Josh Miller (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K) and Trent Viola
WP – Miller, LP – Waller (2-1)