Thursday
September 19, 2024 
For the second year in a row, Quakertown claimed the Pennsylvania American Legion Region 2 title.
For the second year in a row, can the Blue Jays win a state championship? They have a great shot.
With Monday’s 10-5 win over Wesleyville in the Pennsylvania Legion state tournament in Wexford, Quakertown (29-2) guaranteed itself a repeat visit to the Mid-Atlantic regional as well as a chance for a state title in Wednesday late action.
Quakertown was the lone team to win its first four games in the double elimination tournament. Cole Reich’s three hits paced the Blue Jays on Monday.
“We all believe in each other. Everyone on the team looks at each other equally,” said Peyton Myers, a rising sophomore at Bob Jones University. “We can play confidently, knowing if we make a mistake, our teammates aren’t going to be mad us. That helps us to play to our full potential and not hold anything back.”
Zach Oechsle sparkled on Tuesday, shutting out fellow Bucks County program and Region 3 champion Bristol in a 2-0 win. It set up a rematch with Region 4 champion Northeastern (York County) late Wednesday for the state championship. If the Blue Jays win one game of a possible doubleheader, they repeat.
“The biggest part has been playing together. They played all through high school and we have several back from the state championship team,” added manager Bob Helm. “There was good leadership with Danny (Qualteria), Peyton, Cooper (Natisin) and some of the other guys on staying focused and getting back to this point.”
A monster 11-run inning erased a five-run deficit in Saturday’s opening round, which enabled Quakertown to top Bushy Run 11-6. Quakertown got five hits from the bottom of the order in Sunday’s 8-4 triumph over Northeastern.
“Our first game, we had that one inning, which helped a lot obviously,” Qualteria pointed out. “On Sunday, we left a lot of runners on but it was still enough to get the win.”
Anthony Pellegrini held Bushy Run to one run in 3.1 innings while Natisin notched two hits and two RBIs. Carl Weiss did a little of everything on Sunday, collecting three hits while fanning four in 2.2 innings on the mound. The two wins put Quakertown in the winner’s bracket finals against Wesleyville.
“We’re lucky enough to have a lot of pitching,” said Myers. “We can see that this year with a lot of teams. They will be a real good team but after two or three games, their pitching is shot. We have four or five good starting pitchers and three or four good in relief.
“In regionals, Cooper went six innings. I was able to go seven. Carl (Weiss) and Jerred (Housten) both went six innings. We were very efficient in that way,” Myers concluded.
“We threw Danny a lot in regionals, states and Mid-Atlantics last year,” Helm reminded on Friday. “He has only thrown three or four innings this year. It’s a luxury to keep him at shortstop, which is a big part of our defense. I think our defense is huge up the middle, which helps the pitching.”
Quakertown went 4-1 in the Region 2 tournament, outscoring its opponents 37-13.
“There really is no weak spot in our lineup,” Myers said. “We have a lot of guys who can put the ball in play. We don’t strike out much. And if you put the ball in play, that’s huge. Even if you get outs, you can move runners over.
“Not too many people like to bunt,” Myers admitted. “But we have a lot of guys who are unselfish so when Coach calls for a bunt, they are willing to put the ball down and get the guys over when necessary.”
A veteran group has previously experienced success this deep into summer.
“Every team in states, but one, is different and coming last year does have a factor. We’re more experienced, we’re more calm and we know what to expect in scenarios where other teams might go a little crazy,” observed Qualteria, who will play at St. Peter’s University in the fall.
Quakertown and Northeastern join host St. Mary’s as well as the champions from Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New Jersey and New York at the Mid-Atlantic Tournament. Mid-Atlantics will be held at Joe Cannon Stadium outside of Baltimore. The tournament starts on Aug. 7.
“Honestly, it’s not surprising for us to be at states,” Qualteria said. “Our main goal was to get back to Mid-Atlantics and do better than we did last year.”
Quakertown opened states with a 10:15 a.m. game, just like last year. “Hopefully we have the experience to play at this time,” Helm said. “Our goal is always to try and play the later game each day. If you keep winning, you play the 7:00 games.”
As of press time, the Blue Jays frequently had to go to bed late. It’s a nice problem to have.
Note: As the Herald went to press, Quakertown clinched the state title.
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