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BOYERTOWN ? When two good teams battle it out toe-to-toe long enough, as NorChester and Boyertown did in their second-round winners? bracket contest of the Berks County Legion League Tournament, a mistake or two usually decides the outcome.
That?s what happened on Thursday night at Bear Stadium as NorChester took advantage of a pair of Bear infield mistakes and a clutch two-out hit by Collin McCourt in the 11th inning for a 2-1 win. The Bulldogs (13-9, 24-13-1) advance to the winners? bracket final on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Owls Field in West Lawn against Exeter, a 10-0 winner over Twin Valley. Boyertown (19-4, 26-8-2) will meet West Lawn, an 8-4 winner over Shillington Thursday, at Owls Field at noon.
NorChester combined three hits ? including a leadoff single by Noah Beebe ? and an error to push across the winning run.
?Our runner getting on early on was huge,? said Bulldog catcher Dave Clay, who went 3-for-5 and threw out two runners on steal attempts. ?When we executed our bunt and they made a mistake, that gave us the run.?
After Beebe rolled a single to right, an error on a broken-bat bouncer to second put another man on. Then Ben Condello laid down a bunt and was safe when nobody covered first base to load the bases with none out.
The Bears almost escaped unscathed when right fielder Matt McCarney caught a fly ball by Clay and threw to the plate and catcher Cory Fox took the throw up the first base line and lunged across the plate to put a tag on Beebe for a double play. But McCourt punched a hit to right to score Dylan Gallagher and Bulldog reliever Steven Muscovitch retired the Bears in order in the bottom of the inning to wrap up the win.
?Collin really picked us up there,? said Bulldog manager Rick Harrison. ?He did a nice job going with the pitch, an outside fastball, and getting us the run.?
That came after starting pitcher Gallagher and Boyertown?s Dan Woodley battled to a 1-1 tie through eight innings. NorChester scored the first run in the second inning on two errors and an RBI single by Clay. The Bears tied it in the sixth on a leadoff single by Brett Moyer, a sacrifice by Ronnie Mauger, and a two-out infield error on which Moyer scored from second.
Boyertown had a chance to win it in the ninth when Dalton Hughes singled with one out and stole second, but Muscovitch came on in relief and fanned two in a row to end the threat. Then the hosts put another runner on second in the 10th on a single by Brandon Griesemer and a passed ball, but a grounder to first retired the side.
?We didn?t hit the ball real well,? said Boyertown manager Rick Moatz. ?We popped up too much, made some easy outs. We did have an opportunity or two at the end with the guys at second. If you can come through with a big hit, you can get a victory. Other than that, it was a well-played game.?
But the Bears couldn?t do that against Muscovitch, just as they couldn?t against Gallagher while collecting only five total hits.
?My curveball was working really well, and my defense behind me,? said Gallagher. ?They picked me up when I made a bad pitch.?
In fact, of the six runners who reached base against Gallagher in the first eight frames, the one scored and the other five were wiped off the base paths on two double plays, a pickoff at first, and the two throws by Clay.
Clay gave his pitchers credit for their quick deliveries to the plate.
?We knew they like to run,? said Clay. ?My pitchers gave me a lot of time all night. I?ve just got to get it there.?
?We made an effort to try to give our catcher a chance,? said Harrison. ?He did a good job tonight. He?s a good player and he stepped up.?
Gallagher also gave credit to Clay.
?That?s something you have to do against this team because they?re so quick,? he said of his fast delivery. ?Dave took it from there, threw some shots down to second base.?
All agreed that it was a well-played game, despite the occasional errors, as the two teams combined for five double plays ? three of them by Boyertown ? and allowed a total of just 13 hits.
?It was a lot of fun,? said Clay, the only player on either side to have more than one hit. ?They play a lot of tight games. They?re competitive games. We made less mistakes than they did.?
?American Legion, high school, or college ? it was a great game,? added Harrison.
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