Marple Newtown Falls Short in Nail Biter District Quarterfinals

NEWTOWN SQUARE–The dirt stains on uniforms were still there from the day before. So was the score. The one big difference is that on Friday, the very first pitch of the game was knocked out for a home run. On Saturday, in the continuation from the suspended game on Friday, it was the second pitch that was smacked for a homer.

This time, Bill Fleming’s home run stood up, and spelled the difference in a game that took two days, 19.5 hours and 13 innings to reach the final result. In the end, it was Council Rock South winning an epic 7-6 extra-inning affair over in the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA quarterfinals.

Council Rock South will advance to play Conestoga in the district semifinals on Tuesday at Great Valley High School at 4 p.m., while Marple Newtown enters the play-back round for the fifth and final place in the district to qualify for a state playoff berth. The Tigers will play West Chester East at 4 p.m., back at Marple Newtown High School, in a game determined as a neutral site, since no other fields were available on Tuesday.

“I never played in a game like this before, I’ll always remember it,” said Fleming, who is headed to West Virginia on a baseball scholarship. “I’m always looking for a fastball, and the first pitch was kind of high. I was looking for the second pitch to be a fastball, and it came right in over the plate. I hit it right on the screws.”

And he drove it over the 400-foot fence in centerfield for the seventh run for the Hawks, who kept fighting off Marple Newtown each time they took a lead. The Tigers’ offense was relentless.

But Council Rock South had karma on its side. Fleming wears No. 15, and the number was quite prominent throughout the trip down on Saturday to Marple Newtown on the team bus.

“That’s the best hitting team we faced all year,” Hawks’ coach Greg Young said. “We drove bus No. 15 down here, we came through toll booth 15 coming down, and Bill wears No. 15, so there were signs.”

The game was halted on Friday evening tied at 6-6 after 12 innings. Both teams were truly a mirror version of the other. Council Rock South opened with four runs in the top half of the first, only to have Marple Newtown answer with four runs in its half of the first.

“I missed the second pitch by a lot, the pitch wasn’t where it was supposed to be,” said Marple Newtown’s Todd Scott, the losing pitcher. “I wanted the pitch to go low and away. I knew about [Fleming] and I missed a spot and I paid for it. But I have no doubts we can still make the states.”

Marple Newtown, now 18-4, finished with 12 hits, getting two hits each from Joe Kelly and Scott.

“This whole thing was epic,” Tigers’ coach Steve Smith said. “There’s no quit in this team, we’re not done yet. This just wasn’t the best of days.”