District 1 Class 5A Baseball: Brennan’s blast keeps Marple alive

MARPLE — There were plenty of home runs, bat flips and to be completely transparent, walks and players hit by pitches.

But it was all worth it for Marple Newtown, which advanced to the District 1 Class 5A semifinals with one final and dramatic swing of the bat by Justin Brennan. His two-out, two-run shot in the seventh inning elevated the third-seeded Tigers to a 10-8 win over Oxford, the sixth seed that wouldn’t go away.

“I just wanted to get a pitch,” said Brennan, who also drew one of the 14 walks issued in the game. “I knew I was getting off-speed. I just sat back on it, and it was the greatest moment of my life. I mean I felt like I was on Cloud 9. I sprinted to first base, stood in front of with my bat and when it went over I flipped it.”

Brennan rolled down the third-base line into a sea of teammates along with head coach Rick Zimmerman, all doing the victory dance.

Almost lost in the walk-off madness were the big-time contributions players made to get to the Tigers to that point.

Dom Carafa drew a walk to lead off the final winning, then gave way to a pinch runner. Getting a baserunner was huge.

Not as big, though, as when Carafa stepped to the plate in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and the Tigers trailing, 7-4. Zimmerman figured it was a good time to call his guy over and offer a few words of encouragement.

“He was a little down on himself,” Zimmerman said. “He’d been struggling a little bit at the plate, and I just told him ‘go back to what you do. Go back to what you believe in.’ Two pitches later I’m looking at the ball and it’s going over the fence.”

Carafa’s believe-it blast whipped the crowd at Thomas Field into a frenzy. Cars came to a halt in the parking lot. Adult men, women and students were high-fiving and yelling “Carafa” to each other.

“I was just thinking about scoring some runs,” said Carafa, who went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. “When you’re in the playoffs, you can’t miss your opportunity and I was just really grateful to get one, drive it, do my job. That feeling was really surreal. I mean, there’s no other way to explain it. Coming up clutch in a situation like that … It’s amazing.”

Stunning as Carafa’s first varsity grand slam was, it wasn’t enough to finish the Hornets, who were like one of those insects you step on but keep wiggling away.

For the Tigers, no inning was crazier than the sixth. With an 8-7 lead, two walks by reliever Dylan Can and an infield error loaded the bases.

Can, by the way, was having an outstanding day. He plated the first four runs for the Tigers, including a pair with a line drive over the fence in left centerfield.

Can struck out the next two batters, but he hit Ryan Dewees in the elbow, kind of, and that forced in the tying run for the Hornets. You could make an argument that the Hornets were purposely leaning into pitches all day, as the Tigers officially had five HBPs. Tigers starter Owen Mathes hit four Hornets, including the first two batters of the game.

Can was upset. But he kept his cool, as did Zimmerman because really, it was totally the home plate umpire’s call.

“I wouldn’t try and hit him with two strikes on him,” Can explained respectfully. “He was so on top of the plate with two strikes. It was a little frustrating. But I had faith in my team to come back. The grand slam by Dom Caraffa and the walk-off homer by Justin Brennan, I mean, when everybody has each other’s backs, it’s the greatest. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

The Hornets kept plugging away until they ran out of time. It was a heartbreaker for the visitors and coach Tim Rector.

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Marple Newtown's Justin Brennan's flips his bat after hitting a two-run, walk-off home run to give the Tigers a 10-8 vicotry over Oxford. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group).