Huntingdon Valley American Legion Team is Back from the Beach

Playing against a collection of top prospects and soon-to-be Division I baseball players, it would have been easy for the Huntingdon Valley American Legion team to be intimidated.

Matching up against unknown opponents at Sports at the Beach, not only did HV come to play, but it finished as a semifinalist at the tournament in Delaware.

Due to prior obligations, HV wasn’t able to bring its full roster from the regular season and had to bring a couple of fill-in players, who ended up doing much more than just filling in.

Despite losing its first two games on the opening day of the tournament, bounced back with a win on Saturday to earn a spot in the playoff round.

And even though the team found itself down four runs early, its never-say-die attitude came to the forefront once again. Mario Incollingo came up with some clutch hits to put his team in front and HV ace Brian Camp did his job on the mound.

Camp shut down the Central Jersey Crush, who had previously beaten the Predators in the tournament, by retiring them in order over the final three innings. He had eight strikeouts in his complete-game effort.

“We set up our pitching in the pool play to try and win as many games in the playoffs.” Horn said. “I was expecting to win this game and so did the boys. Being down 4-0, I knew in my heart we were going to come back and win this game at some point.

“We had a lot of base runners and I knew someone would have a big hit,” Horn added. “I knew Mario would come up with it. I’m looking forward to him being on the Legion team next year. I finally have my No. 4 hitter.”

HV belted out 10 hits in the game, by far the most productive game at the plate all tournament. Jared Licht (triple), Lou Palmer (2/3 2 R) and Jesse Goldstein (2/3) helped lead the attack.

In the next round, however, the GoWag Orioles were too much HV in a 5-0 win to advance to the finals. Despite not winning the whole thing, the experience will be invaluable to a team building for next season.

"It was definitely not what we’re used to," Ross Goodman said of the competition. "It was a great learning experience with our pitching down there. It really helps us as a team. You can face anything and we’re ready for anything. Expectations are definitely high with Evan. We will definitely be over .500 next season and ultimately get to the playoffs."

Other than on-the-field play, the HV team had a great time staying in the dorms in Delaware near Rehoboth Beach. It was a good chance for the players, whose high school season ended about a month ago, to get back together and enjoy the camaraderie.

"As a team we all went out to dinner to Craby Dicks and the kids had a great time," Horn said. "The kids stayed at the dorms on the premises, and had a lot of fun. All the kids on the team get along so I knew it was going to have a blast."

Goodman enjoyed just being with the boys one last time.

“Definitely hanging out with the guys, hanging out with the teammates," Goodman said about his favorite part of the weekend. "Since it’s not school, we don’t get a chance to hang out. Now we know what people can do, what people cant do. It really helps you with the chemistry."

POOL PLAY

Friday
Game 1

GoWag Orioles, 7
Huntingdon Valley, 1

The highlight of the loss was soon-to-be LM freshman Lance Goodman pitching two scoreless innings against top talent.

Jared Licht, Jess Goldstein, Mario Incollingo, Jake Madnick and Matt Terrenzio each had a hit. 

“I was very proud how we played against a team with Division-I prospects basically to an even game until the sixth inning," Horn said.

Friday
Game 2

Central Jersey Crush, 4
Huntingdon Valley, 2

Playing against another baseball academy, Jake Madnick tossed three scoreless innings giving up just one hit.

"I was very proud that they hung tough with another academy, who we actually beat in the playoffs," Horn said. "I'm really proud of the new kids, Mario, Matt and Lance, are contributing just joining the team. I’m getting more out of them than I thought."

Saturday
Game 3

Huntingdon Valley, 1
Long Island Mariners, 0

"Short on pitching, I asked someone to pitch, and Robert Hoffman pitched a complete game, 1-hit shutout," Horn said.

What made the victory even more impressive was that Hoffman only needed 71 pitches to complete the game. He was two batters over the minimum while giving up just one hit.

"His poise, how well he controlled himself on the mound, you just never know what you are going to get from a real good baseball player," Horn said. "He hasn’t pitched since last year. He’s an infielder. As the game was going on we used the word, ‘masterpiece.’ We couldn’t believe it."

Jesse Goldstein drove in the only run of the game.

Saturday
Game 4

Potomac River Pirates, 12
Huntingdon Valley, 2

"I was okay with the result considering our last 1-0 win," Horn said. "It was a team formed ‘rising juniors and seniors,’ which is all future D-1 players."