Germantown Friends captures FSL title

As Germantown Friends baseball coach Tim Gunn handed his boss a championship plaque Saturday, the dramatic end-of-the-season words didn't quite flow.

"Tim, I . . . uhhh . . . need to talk to you about one thing," GFS athletic director Katie Bergstrom said, searching for the right words. "I needed to ummm . . . let you know that . . . uhhh . . ."

With Gunn distracted, players crept behind him. A couple of them gripped an orange Gatorade tub, filled with water - cold.

Splash.

Bergstrom laughed. So did parents, assistant coaches, and players. Gunn didn't, though he couldn't be upset.

Germantown Friends beat Friends Select, 12-4, in the Friends Schools League final at Gratwick Field on Saturday. The host Tigers received medals in a postgame ceremony, but they elected for another traditional award: a wet coach.

This season was Gunn's first at Germantown Friends, and he couldn't have ended it on a better note.

"They got it done in the playoffs," he said of the Tigers. "They came to play when they needed to. It shocked me that we won by this many runs. We haven't hit the cover off the ball all season."

The Tigers took a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and didn't look back. Shortstop Conor Biddle led the way for Germantown Friends, driving in three runs. Matt Fichandler and Nick Rittle each drove in a pair, and Andrew Becker, Sam York, and Gil Myran brought home one each.

Neither team could rely on its ace in the final because league rules force pitchers to rest for at least three days after throwing at least six innings. Friends Select's Dan Mauri had tossed a one-hitter against Friends' Central on Wednesday. GFS' Becker also threw a complete game Wednesday against Shipley.

In the battle of the backups, Germantown Friends won. Friends Select's Ben Holl allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits, walking five and hitting one batter. Friends Select coach Tim Litz pulled Holl after 12/3 innings.

Holl's counterpart, Andy Reed, fared much better. Reed, a senior, pitched a complete game for the Tigers, allowing four runs on eight hits.

Before this year, Reed didn't start. But he said he gained confidence as the season wore on, and he learned to fight through jams, such as the one he faced in the first inning when Friends Select stranded runners at second and third.

"I felt better today than I had all year," Reed said. "This has been a dream of mine since I first saw this team play: to pitch in a championship. I don't know if it was adrenaline or what. But if there was a thing wrong today, I couldn't feel it."

Friends Select   0020110 - 482

Germantown Friends   061410x - 12122

WP: Andy Reed. LP: Ben Holl. 2B: FS-Mauri; GFS-Becker, Biddle. 3B: FS-Dichter.