West Baseball’s Run Ends in Quarterfinals

It was a day where Cherry Hill West’s baseball team only needed one break—a hit with a runner in scoring position, a friendly bounce, a ball that stuck in a damp glove.

Time and again, though, it went just the opposite, as the Lions stranded nine batters and committed four errors in a 3-1 loss to Williamstown in the quarterfinals of the South Jersey, Group 4 tournament Friday.

“Our margin for error this year has been razor-thin, and we always find a way to get those runs across,” West head coach Dan McMaster said. “We’ve won so many close games by making plays…we gave it to them, which is unfortunate.”

That razor-thin margin was again the case through most of the game Friday, with West trailing by just one run—the only earned run starter Brandon Perna allowed—until it all unraveled in the fifth.

Williamstown John Brady struck out for what would’ve been the second out of the inning, but took off for first and was safe on a passed ball, and teammate Matt Lang followed that with an infield single.

The Lions then committed two straight errors to allow one run, and Williamstown’s Zach Dardaris finished the damage with an RBI single to put the Braves up, 3-0.

While West was able to chip back a run two innings later, Will Allen’s nubber in front of the plate with men on second and third proved to be the game’s final out—and the third inning where the Lions left a runner 90 feet from home plate.

Though an occasional drizzle blew through the area and temperatures dipped into the 50s, with a cutting breeze, the weather wasn’t a factor, McMaster said.

“We left a ton of guys on base and didn’t catch the ball…you’ve got to find a way to win this game,” he said. “Our guys had confidence in the box, they had confidence with guys on the base, and we expected to push a lot more runs across than we did—but that’s baseball.”

Despite getting tagged for the loss, Perna gave up just eight hits through five innings of work, before yielding to Brad Machinski, who let runners on via a walk and a throwing error, before getting a double play to end the sixth.

“Brandon’s done that for us all year,” McMaster said. “We consider him our second ace, and that’s why we had confidence running him out there…he went out there, and he kept a very potent lineup off-balance.”

While the loss ends the Lions’ run in the playoffs, the team still has the Camden County tournament to finish, after it was delayed by Thursday’s rain.

West will face Sterling in the semifinals either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on Sterling’s playoff situation. If the Lions win there, they’ll advance to face Eastern in the finals, which will likely happen Thursday at Eastern.