pine forge >> With one out and two men on base in the top of the sixth inning, Pine Forge catcher Tom Randall walked out to the mound and gave some soothing advice to his pitcher Jonathan Wack.
As Randall walked back into his position behind the plate, he exchanged some words with the batter.
“I told him to throw this one right at your head,” Randall smiled and said to his younger brother Eric in the batter’s box. “So heads up.”
Four pitches and no bruises later, Eric Randall would reach base safely on a fielder’s choice and error, knocking in Boyertown Black’s lone run. The elder Randall and his Pine Forge teammates got the last laugh as well with a 7-1 victory in the semifinal game of the Senior Babe Ruth Tri-County League playoffs.
The win sends Pine Forge (15-4) to the championship game on Tuesday which could potentially prove a rematch with Boyertown Black (13-6) as the Bruins fall to a playback game.
“It’s fun to be able to go up against each other,” said Tom Randall afterward of playing against his younger brother. “We’ve both been playing baseball our entire lives and haven’t really had the chance to go up against each other really until this season. I’m sure this makes things a lot easier on our parents too.”
With Tom sporting the No. 26 and Eric sporting No. 62, the Randalls became must-see action anytime Eric stepped to the plate.
“At one point, I bunted a couple (foul) and into his chest,” recalled Eric, who is headed into his senior year at Boyertown High School. “So even with two strikes, I turned to him and told him I was gonna foul one more off him. That’s what brothers do. We’ve got to try and get under each other’s skin anytime can.”
Also joining in on the brotherly love were the Longacres.
After roping a two-run double during the bottom of the first inning, Pine Forge’s Ben Longacre exchanged plenty of words and a laugh with Boyertown second baseman Sam Longacre.
“I don’t even remember what we said to each other. He was probably making fun of me for something,” said Ben Longacre, who is committed to play baseball at Goshen College in Indiana next season.
“It’s definitely like a best-friend relationship,” he added. “We go back and forth all the time, whether it’s at home or playing sports. At the end of it though, we know we’ve got each other’s backs.”
In true younger brother fashion, Sam Longacre has plenty of admiration toward his older brother.
“After looking up to Ben my whole life and watching him win a state championship, it feels great to be able to stand next to him on the field,” he said. “It brings back memories of playing against each other in the backyard as kids.”
Even going beyond bloodlines, Boyertown Black skipper Carl Meier says there’s been an element of camaraderie anytime the two teams met this season.
“It’s a good rivalry,” he said afterward, “but at the end of the day, these guys are all buds. It’s all love between all of these guys.
“They’re always jacked up to play against (Pine Forge),” he added. “It didn’t matter if it was brothers or not – it was friends against friends. These guys all genuinely get along and love competing against each other. It makes it that much more special when you’re brothers.”
Ben Longacre would finish 1-for-3 for Pine Forge with another RBI in the bottom of the third inning. Leadoff man Seth Endy finished with a pair of walks, a double and three runs scored while second baseman Mitch Pinder hit a clean 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
Wack earned the win on the mound, where he gave way to just five hits and an unearned run. He walked three and struck out four before John DeMartino came on to shut the door in the seventh inning.
Boyertown Black starter Dan Rodgers got himself in trouble with a four-run first inning, but settled down the next six innings. The right-hander let up eight hits, walked five and struck out two.
Sam Longacre finished with two hits out of the leadoff spot while Justin Butler scored the team’s lone run.
“We’re obviously a little low after a loss like this, but we’ve got to move past it and get ready to play again,” said Meier. “We were hitting the ball well, it just wasn’t landing for us. So if we can keep swinging the bats well and keep playing well in the field, who knows, maybe we’ll see these guys again.”
So younger brothers Sam Longacre and Eric Randall will be able to see their older brothers play for a league title on Tuesday.
The only question now is, will they be on the field against them or just in the stands watching?
