BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The 2nd seeded Northampton Baseball team swept 7th seeded Bergen Community College on Saturday to win their first round playoff series and advance to their 4th consecutive Region XIX Final Four, downing the Bulldogs 7-2 and 6-5, at Spartan Park.
GAME ONE - Won 7-2
Noah Weber (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin) went 8 innings, allowing 2 runs (both unearned), striking out 8 and walking none to improve to 9-0 on the season.
Nick Klee (Reading, PA/Exeter) finished off the Bulldogs in the 9th, allowing 0 runs on 3 hits and fanning the final batter to end the game.
The Spartan offense got a kick-start from
CJ Peechatka (Henryville, PA/Pocono Mountain East) in the bottom of the 1st inning as he launched his 16th homerun of the season to give Northampton a 1-0 lead.
Northampton went up 2-0 in the bottom of the 3rd when
Jake DiCesare (Barto, PA/Boyertown) walked with the bases loaded to bring home
Chris Smith (Reading, PA/Exeter).
Bergen plated a run in the top of the 4th, but the Spartans responded with a run of their own to maintain a 2-run lead at 3-1.
CJ Gantz (Moore Township, PA/Northampton ) laced a 2-run single in the bottom of the 5th to put the Spartans up 7-1 and effectively close the door on the Bulldogs.
Gantz finished 1-4 with 2 RBI,
Derek Stento (New Milford, PA/Blue Ridge) was 1 for 4 with a RBI and
Tommy Dunleavy (Bushkill, PA/East Stroudsburg North) went 1 for 3 with a double.
GAME TWO - Won 6-5
In game two, the Spartans once again jumped out to a quick lead, scoring in the 2nd and 3rd to take a 2-0 advantage.
Bergen the took the lead with a 3-run homerun in the top of the 4th, but the Spartans quickly reclaimed the lead scoring three runs of their own in the bottom half of the 4th to go up 5-3.
Bergen responded with 2 in the 5th to tie the game, but the Spartans were able to push across a run in the 6th as
CJ Gantz (Moore Township, PA/Northampton ) singled,
CJ Peechatka (Henryville, PA/Pocono Mountain East) singled and advanced Gantz to third and
Corey Stouffer (Souderton, PA/North Penn) laced a RBI single to give Northampton the lead.
Stouffer finished 3 for 4 with 2 RBI, Peechatka was 2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI and Gantz was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored to lead Northampton.
Colton Langworthy (Alpha, NJ/Phillipsburg (NJ)) picked up the victory in relief of
Alex Super (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty), logging 5.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7.
Northampton, which will play in its 8th Region XIX Final Four in 11 seasons in the NJCAA, improves to 37-8 overall.
Bergen finishes the season at 19-15.
The Spartans will face RCGC in their first game of the Final Four on Friday (Time TBD) at RCGC in Sewell, NJ.
