Bryson Turner had the Schuylkill-Berks Legion title riding on the talents of his right arm last Tuesday night and he knew it – even though he tried to block it out.
Oley-Topton Post 217 had forced a deciding championship game in the double-elimination Legion baseball tournament, at Pine Grove’s Walter Stump Field, by clipping previously unbeaten Muhlenberg by three runs the previous night.
Now, Turner – a rising sophomore for Widener University, pitching his final Legion innings at the league level – was nursing a one-run lead late with the title on the line. But there was trouble. The A’s had loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth inning on two walks and a bunt single.
The moment was not too big for the Patriots’ right-handed reliever. Turner bore down and struck out the side to preserve Post 217’s precarious 5-3 lead, a margin that would stand as the trophy-winner one inning later when he returned to the hill and closed it out.
It was a remarkable sequence, one that will long live in program lore. To no one’s surprise, it was also Muhlenberg’s last gasp. Turner, after opening the door, slammed it shut.
“Coming out of the bullpen I felt good, I think it was just kind of the jitters,” Turner said. “I had to find the zone and once I did, I had to keep repeating my mechanics. You’ve got to try to block it out all out (bases loaded, no outs). It’s really hard but you have to. You pretty much just have to go for it all. You either lose it or do what I did. And thank God I did.”
Turner struck out Muhlenberg’s Brady and Cody Fidler and Brandon Heere in succession to escape with the lead intact. He got Brady Fidler looking, Cody Fidler and Heere swinging. Even A’s manager Phil Raccuglia knew the moment was lost, three outs yet to go.
“That was our shot, you know,” Raccuglia said, “but give credit to Bryson. He made some pitches in that situation and that’s what really good pitchers do. He’s one of those guys who’s had a lot of success against us. We knew what he could do.”
Post 217 manager Fred van Gulik was emotional to the point of fighting off tears, both in the team photo and in talking to reporters.
“Our guys played their hearts out,” van Gulik said. “It’s been an unbelievable run for us. I’m just happy for our kids, our post, for Gareth Roman, a former player who’s battling leukemia. Bryson put himself into trouble and pitched himself out of trouble. Not much more to say. It’s a great achievement for our organization.
“Bryson brings experience and he hands it over to the other kids and we talk about this – how to attack hitters and believing in yourself.”
Post 217, headed by Ben Flicker from the mound, spotted Muhlenberg a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning before knotting the game up in the bottom of the second on Brody Lesher’s RBI single.
The Patriots grabbed a 2-1 edge in the third on a run-scoring single by Flicker, a sequence set up by a two-base error in left field that allowed lead-off batter Peter Vaccaro to reach second. Vaccaro moved to third on Sebastian Williamson’s bunt single and came around on Flicker’s knock.
Post 217 pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fourth with three runs on just one hit. Two walks, a wild pitch and Flicker’s second RBI hit of the contest helped the Patriots assume command.
The A’s chipped away, however, by responding with two runs in the fifth off Flicker, prompting van Gulik’s move to usher in Turner for the sixth.
“We talked about it – let’s try to get four (from Flicker); Bryson for two or maybe to finish,” van Gulik said. “Flick went a little bit further. We have guys who come out and pitch in situations.”
