Wednesday
September 18, 2024 
Burning bright, the Quakertown Blazers won three games in a row last weekend to finish the 2024 season as the inaugural East Coast Collegiate Baseball League champions.
The Blazers defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Miners 7-5 in a thrilling Sunday afternoon title game.
Memorial Park, in Quakertown, hosted the playoffs. The Blazers held a lower record than their opponents in all three playoff games, so they played as the visitors.
Batting first on Sunday, the Blazers still had an advantage in that they knew Memorial Park’s field the best, enjoyed the comfort of their home dugout and had support from the Blazers’ faithful fans.
The Miners, however, took an assertive lead in the bottom of the second inning. Luke Spencer reached on a dropped third strike. Nate Dudek was hit by the next pitch and Josh Bottger worked a sacrifice bunt.
Devin Markert grounded out, advancing Dudek to third and scoring Spencer.
The Miners plated two more runs in the third and their final two runs of the day in the fourth.
In a 5-0 hole entering the top of the sixth inning, the Blazers lit up Matt Moreira, who entered in relief of Jake Memoli.
Memoli shut down the bats of the Blazers – who had 11 hits in the semifinal game – working six strikeouts.
The Blazers took an opposite field approach and attacked Moreira, the left-handed pitcher, continuously sending balls into right field.
Three straight singles by Mason Woolwine, Dylan Broderick and Mike Pascoe sparked the rally.
Jackson Shollenberger sent a popup to shallow right field, which was caught by Miners second baseman Zach Paczewski.
Blazers manager Mike Fitzgerald faced a critical decision, whether or not to send Broderick from third to home.
“We did a start and stop there, to try and draw the throw … there’s no reason for us to try that, besides we still had two outs and another shot to get those runs in,” Fitzgerald said.
With just one out in the inning, Blazer Matt Curtis was able to reach on an error by Paczewski and score Woolwine.
Frank Taveras doubled, scoring three more Blazers and a Carter Rieben RBI-single tied the game.
Suddenly, it was a whole new ballgame.
Pascoe, the starting pitcher and designated hitter, scored the sixth run of the championship game in the top of the ninth inning on a single by Shollenberger.
“The mound wasn’t there, so I just tried to make it up at the plate,” said Pascoe, the only Blazer to score two runs.
The Miners beat the Mercer Mammoths on Saturday to advance to the championship game. Their dugout is known for being loud and the field ump issued them a warning in the semifinal game.
The Blazers found themselves up to the challenge, especially Kannon Zdimal, the leader of the dugout noise. During their rally in the ninth he yelled, “Whoever doubted the Blazers?”
This sparked the Blazers, allowing them to plate another run during the inning, off a Ty Everitt double to left field, scoring Shollenberger.
Taking a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, the Blazers knew they couldn’t send this game into extras like Saturday night’s semifinal.
The Blazers kicked off their championship run by edging Southside 3-2 Friday. During Saturday’s semifinal, they were up 7-2 against the Trenton Capitals and allowed them to come back, knotting the game at 7 apiece.
In the 11th, the Blazers worked back-to-back walks and Casey Vaughan singled to score Taveras to take an 8-7 lead.
A three-run shot over the 325 sign in left field by Woolwine moved the lead to 11-7, providing a perfect cushion for Zdimal who closed the game.
Despite this season’s sluggish start, Fitzgerald always had faith in his Blazers team, alongside General Manager Chris Ray.
“It’s been really rewarding … I kept telling the guys we’re better than this, collectively we are a good team,” Fitzgerald said.
They knew they had phenomenal talent in their bullpen and offensively, it just took the Blazers a little longer than their ECCBL opponents to find their spark.
From a 6-10 start to the season to winning the championship game, the 2024 Blazers never quit.
Grant Fitzgerald, who recorded the win in the championship game, joined the team mid-season.
“It feels awesome. Being added late, thanks to the coaches and all the guys for having faith in me,” he said.
“It feels amazing. I live in Quakertown, so I’m happy to do it for the hometown,” said Everitt, a 2022 Quakertown Community High School graduate.
Malachi Duka closed Sunday’s game for the Blazers, working two strikeouts for the last outs.
He struggled early in the season, returning from injury, but ended his season with a bang.
“It’s been great, it’s been very frustrating coming back from that injury, and just having trust in my defenders and being able to pound the zone and get comfortable on the mound again,” Duka said.
In the bottom of the ninth, Duka retired Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Casey O’Brien with a ground out from second over to first. Then, Bottger singled off a Woolwine error.
Duka remained unphased on the mound, retiring Markert with a strikeout.
With the final three strikes remaining in the 2024 season, Duka worked and got Evan Melberger to swing at three strikes in a row to secure the win.
Tossing his glove aside, Duka embraced Shollenberger and the entire team swarmed around Duka on the mound, cheering with joy.
Excitement and pride surrounded this 2024 Blazers team, who smiled for their championship photo, hoisting their trophy proudly.
Humble as always, the ECCBL champions paused their celebration to rake and clean up the field.
The 2024 Blazers never quit, sparking themselves to a championship and igniting plenty of hope for next season.
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