UNIVERSITY PARK — Michael Welsh had taken nine at-bats all season long for the Neshaminy baseball team.
Locked in a 1-1 quirky pitchers’ duel against Butler in Thursday’s PIAA Class 6A championship game, it seemed like the perfect time for his 10th opportunity.
Welsh led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a base hit, setting the table for his teammates to finally break through and that they did as Neshaminy defeated Butler, 7-3, to claim the title at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
The win gave Neshaminy its first state title in baseball. Butler’s season finished at 22-4.
The teams had to wait out a rain delay of 2 hours, 20 minutes before getting the game underway. The game was already pushed back an hour due to a longer Class 4A title game and was expected to start at 5:30 p.m.
Welsh’s insertion into the game was part of a double switch when coach Dan Toner replaced starter Chase Bonner.
“Originally, I was expecting Chase to throw the whole game because he’s been a dog for us all year,” Welsh said. “He started struggling, and I knew I was going to go in and have to hit, and you’ve just got to be ready for those situations. Coach has been preaching all year, keep swinging, take batting practice every day, and I just had to come through. There was no other option.”
After Welsh connected on his single and advanced to second on a throwing error, Dan Marable lofted a single to right field, plating Welsh to make it 2-1 Neshaminy. Noah Wallace added an RBI single, followed by a passed ball to score another run, and Matt Gryn finished off the inning with an RBI single to make it 5-1.
Marable collected two hits and drove in two runs for the Skins.
“You’ve just got to be ready when the time comes,” Welsh said. “I’m always ready to go. I didn’t expect it in the beginning, but you’ve just got to be ready. That’s how I’ve been thinking all year.”
Neshaminy also took advantage of five Golden Tornado errors on the night.
“Probably didn’t pick the best time to play our worst baseball of the year,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “Obviously, you want to play your best baseball game in the last one, but that’s not always how it falls. We didn’t play our best baseball game. We hung in it. I still think we’re a really good ballclub, a good team. We obviously got to places other teams didn’t this year, and you’ve just got to tip your cap, and they just grinded it out and they won gold this year.”
Butler (22-4) was playing in its first state baseball championship game.
Forbes’ group had a chance in the top half of the sixth when Nolan Stefanik led the inning off with a double. He later scored on a single by Dylan Rattigan to make it 5-2. Butler did not have a base hit until the fifth inning.
Neshaminy added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth for insurance.
Gryn, pitching in relief of Bonner, closed the door on the Golden Tornado, getting Karsten Lenyk to pop out in foul territory and inducing a Jake Szebalskie groundout to end the inning. Gryn picked up the win, scattering four hits and allowing two runs but did not issue a walk.
Stefanik, who will pitch for Penn State, saw his velocity drop off slightly but labored at times and was eventually forced out due to pitch count. He finished allowing eight hits, struck out three and walked six.
“Just one of those days where you don’t play your best game of baseball, and it comes to bite you in the state championship,” Forbes said. “That is what it is. A spade is a spade.”
Butler managed just four hits and struck out 11 times.
Forbes mentioned he didn’t think the delay was a factor. The teams had warmed up and were introduced before the PIAA opted to wait out the two-plus hour delay. Neither team warmed up in full after the delay ended.
“We were trying to stay loose, but at the end of the day, delays are delays,” he said. “You’ve got to try to find ways to stay loose.”