VINELAND, NJ - The Northampton Baseball swept #3 RCGC and #1 Cumberland, both on their home fields on Saturday, to advance to the Region XIX championship game on Sunday afternoon in Vineland, NJ. The 2nd seeded Spartans downed the Roadrunners 9-7, and then outlasted the Dukes 4-3, to advance to their first Region XIX championship game since 2011.
GAME ONE - In game one the Spartans jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and expanded that to 4-0, before the Roadrunners exploded for 6 runs in the 4th inning to take a 6-4 lead. The Spartans added 2 runs in the bottom half of the 4th to tie the game up and then added 3 in the bottom of the 8th after RCGC was able to push a run across in the 6th, to the make the final 9-7.
Colton Hooker (Warrington, PA/Upper Moreland) led the 10 hit attack with a 2 for 3 performance, including a double, a homerun and 3 RBI, while First Team All Region selection
Angel Lopez (Santurce, PR/Perkiomen School) finished 2 for 5 with a homerun (his 13th of the season).
Zane Vargason (Milan, PA/Athens) was 2 for 3 with a double,
Franklin Ramirez (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) smashed a triple and
Cody Brown (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) added 2 RBI to pace the Spartan attack.
Starter
Tyler Forbes (Athens, PA/Athens) lasted 3.2 innings, allowing 6 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits with 4 strikeouts.
Tyler Caraway (Riegelsville, PA/Palisades) earned the win in relief, going 5.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and striking out 3 to improve to 7-0.
GAME TWO - After downing the Roadrunners in Sewell, NJ, the Spartans boarded their bus and headed to Vineland to face the #1 ranked Cumberland County College Dukes. Scoring runs in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th innings, Northampton built a 4-0 lead before Cumberland scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th to bring the score within one, at 4-3. Reliever
Zach Conley (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) was able to close the door over the last 2.1 innings to earn the save and the 4-3 win for Spartans.
Starter
Brendon Caraway (Riegelsville, PA/Palisades) went 6.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and striking out 7, before giving away to Conley who didn't allow a hit over the final 2.1 innings, while striking out 3.
Angel Lopez (Santurce, PR/Perkiomen School) hit his 14th homerun of the season, going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, while
Franklin Ramirez (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) finished 3 for 5.
Cody Herestofa (Brookhaven, PA/Sun Valley) and
Zane Vargason (Milan, PA/Athens) each added a hit for Northampton, which had 9 hits in the victory.
The Spartans, ranked 5th in the country, improved to 34-5 overall with the two wins. They now await the winner of RCGC (43-14) vs. Cumberland (49-6) which is scheduled for noon on Sunday. The winner will advance to the title game at 3pm, while the loser will be eliminated. RCGC eliminated #4 Brookdale (34-23) earlier in the day.
The winner of the RCGC/Cumberland game must defeat Northampton twice to advance to the NJCAA World Series, while Northampton must just win once.
