Shawnee advances to Sunday's Diamond Classic semifinal
The Renegades dominated Cherry Hill West Saturday and will play St. Augustine.
Any team that reaches Sunday, the final day of the annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic, had better be well armed.
This 16-team tournament rewards mound depth, especially since the quarterfinals were played Saturday, the semifinals and final will be Sunday, and, oh, yes, the NJSIAA state tournament for public school teams begins Monday.
This makes choices difficult for coaches, but Shawnee's Brian Anderson doesn't mind his options. Shawnee advanced to the semifinal against St. Augustine with a 5-2 win over Cherry Hill West on Saturday morning at Washington Township.
"The Diamond is kind of meant for our team this year in that we really don't care who takes the mound," Anderson said.
The opponent certainly cares.
On this day, when Shawnee played small ball to perfection, junior righthander Sean Heine made an impressive return after being idled for a month with tendinitis.
Heine, who had pitched only 12 2/3 innings entering the game, was the starter and threw four shutout frames. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth with an inning-ending groundout.
"I started getting a little fatigued," he said.
Still, he did his job and now could be a factor in the postseason.
Entering the day, Shawnee (19-4) already had one title in its pocket. The Renegades have clinched at least a share of the Olympic Conference American Division.
Cherry Hill West (14-7) still must play Bishop Eustace this week, with the winner earning the Olympic National crown. The Lions are saving ace John Stankiewicz for the Group 3 playoff game Monday against Ocean City.
Sophomore lefthander Dylan Hanni started for West and threw two shutout innings before being pulled.
"We respect the Diamond Classic and wanted to win, but we wanted him to be available if we need him in relief for Monday," West coach Dan McMaster said.
The Renegades got all the offense they needed during a four-run third inning on an RBI single by No. 9 hitter Joey Moore, an RBI double by catcher Colin Wetterau, and two more runs on errors.
Shawnee made it 5-0 in the sixth on Connor Coolahan's RBI safety squeeze bunt.
To the credit of West, the Lions staged a last-ditch rally. Sophomore John Gray delivered a pinch-hit two-run single in the seventh, and, after the second out, Nick DiVietro got an infield base hit, putting runners on first and third.
With the tying run at the plate, Anderson brought in junior righthander Brian Hendry, who will start the playoff game Monday against Jackson. Hendry shouldn't be too tired because he needed only three pitches to get a game-ending strikeout.
Anderson has the luxury of using senior righthander Jake Coolahan (6-0) in the Diamond semifinal Sunday. If Shawnee advances to the title game at Eastern at 5 p.m., it's anybody's guess who will pitch.
Anderson said that if the Renegades advance he will have faith in whoever takes the ball. The Diamond forces coaches to go deep into the rotation, and that is why teams don't so much win the tournament as outlast the competition.
Cherry Hill West 000 000 2 - 2 5 4
Shawnee 004 010 x - 5 5 1
WP: Sean Heine. LP: Jake Miller. 2B: S-Colin Wetterau.
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