Burdette fooled once but not twice in leading Conestoga over Ridley

RIDLEY TWP. — Walker Burdette found himself in the same place four innings apart Monday afternoon.

In the third inning of Conestoga’s District 1 Class 6A playoff opener at Ridley, the shortstop flew out with the bases loaded and two out, squandering an early chance to bust the game open.

When the seventh rolled around, the score and even the hit count remained the same as it had been in the top of the third, though the pressure ratcheted up. And the senior rose to meet the moment.

Burdette split the left-center gap with a bases-clearing triple, the decisive hit in a game with just five safeties total, as No. 17 Conestoga topped No. 16 Ridley, 4-1.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Burdette said. “Bases loaded, we needed a run in a big spot, and I wanted to put the ball in play. I got a strike, a fastball right over the dish, and I sent it to left center and I just kept running.”

While the two jams were identical from Burdette’s perspective, they were diametrically opposed for the Ridley hurlers. In the third, Ridley starter Mike Happersett allowed back-to-back singles by eight- and nine-men JT Zellefrow and Brad Markind, the latter an RBI knock after Zellefrow advanced on a wild pitch. A walk and a hit-by-pitch packed the sacks.

But the sophomore Happersett proceeded to strike out Conestoga’s three- and four-hitters before Burdette skied meekly to second.

Happersett flicked on cruise control after that and coasted into the seventh. It started innocently for the left-hander with a strikeout and a groundout, in trying to beat the pitch-count clock of 105. But he hit Drew Lamonica for the third time, then walked Shane McCullen, exiting with 110 pitches and the third out still in the wind.

That brought Gavin Severa to the mound. He walked pinch-hitter Alex Yucha, then with nowhere to put Burdette, fell into a hitter’s count that Burdette summarily punished.

It marked an undeserved end for Happersett, who was outstanding. He was tagged with the loss and three earned runs allowed, but he relented just the two third-inning singles, two walks and struck out nine.

“He’s a great pitcher,” Ridley third baseman Andrew Rowles said. “Still got two more years here. He’s going to be the top pitcher in the league for the next two years to come. Every time he goes out there, I feel like we have a really good chance to win.”

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