Baseball: Wiffle ball session helps to provide right spark for Harriton baseball squad

Harriton shortstop Aaron Duetsch starts the double play as Henderson’s Matt Dinicci slides late into second base in the opening round of PIAA playoffs at Henderson Tuesday. Duetsch scored four runs as the Rams won, 11-5. (Pete Bannan photo – Digital First Media)

West Chester – With their district playoff berth quickly fading and his team mired in a three-game losing streak, Harriton baseball coach Scott Kurzinsky decided to show his team how much the game is meant to be – by using a practice day to play wiffle ball.
“The team was not having fun and they were getting down on themselves,” said Kurzinsky, following his team’s 11-5 win over West Chester Henderson in the opening round of the district one Class AAAA playoffs Tuesday. “It’s high school baseball and you’re supposed to have fun. They have been a resilient group all year and it seemed to get them back on track.”
“To have someone re-instill how much fun the game is supposed to be was awesome,” said junior Don DiLoreto, who pitched the final three innings. “It was great to see and hear Coach K talk about how baseball is supposed to be fun and it definitely helped loosen the team up.”
The result of dialing back the intensity of a regular practice and re-living childhood memories certainly paid off for a resilient Rams team who earned a hard-fought win over Springfield (Delco) to help them land the 19th seed in the PIAA District One Class AAAA tournament.
On Tuesday, what started off as a pitcher’s duel between Harriton sophomore Jonah Frankel and West Chester Henderson senior Ryan Tench turned into an offensive barrage for the visitors, who would push across nine runs over the last three innings to advance to the second round where they faced No. 3 seed Upper Dublin (the second-round game was played after this paper went to press).

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