Throughout the regular season and the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs, teams play seven inning games. Advancing to regionals adds a degree of difficulty for teams in that they now need to have enough pitching to cover nine-inning games. Of all of the teams in the Region Two Tournament, South Parkland may be best suited for the added wear and tear on pitching.

Not only has the pitching staff handled having to play nine-inning games, but its also had a couple of extra-inning games thrown in for good measure and has handled the workload just fine.

“Having such a deep pitching staff has been a key for us,” said manager Tom Kahn. “You have to have the pitching, especially since we’re going nine innings now. Then, you get a couple extra-inning games and it’s even tougher, but we’re really in good shape.”

After an opening day 5-1 win over Hellertown, South Parkland was forced into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament because of a 6-5 loss to Souderton in 11 innings. Kyle Novobilsky and Cullen Wadsworth each had three hits in the loss, with Novobilsky scoring one run and driving in two and Wadsworth adding an RBI. On the mound, Ryan Giovenco gave the Trojans seven innings, with Dylan Peiffer, John Patridge and Nathan Horn each delivering an inning of work in the loss.

Against Muhlenberg on Monday, the pitching took center stage in the form of a two-hit complete game shutout by Michael Jenkins. Perhaps the best pitcher on the talented staff, Jenkins struck out nine batters and walked only one to get the win. Wadsworth was again in the center of the offense, with an RBI single that drove in Patridge for the only run of the game in the sixth inning.

“That was exactly what we needed from Michael,” said Kahn. “We used a few guys the day before and wanted to get as much as we could from him and he delivered even more than we could have hoped for. It was huge.”

Things got tougher on Tuesday when Parkland had to face hosting team West Lawn, the only team without a loss in the tournament. The Owls took an early 2-0 lead, but the Trojans came back with a four-spot in the top of the sixth. Even with the deep pitching, West Lawn tied the game in the bottom of the inning and the two teams took turns setting each other down until the 11th inning.

Novobilsky walked to open the inning and was bunted to second by EJ Brandt. A walk and a base-hit left the Trojans with bases loaded and two outs for Dylan Peiffer, who stroked a single to center to score two runs and put South Parkland up 6-4.

Peiffer, another of the team’s top pitchers, has battled a bit of a sore arm, and ideally, Kahn would have liked to not have to run him out there in the 11th, but plans changed. An error and a base hit put two-on with two outs for West Lawn and Kahn decided to go to Peiffer, who was up to the task. The Widener University pitcher struck out the side to lock up the win.

“Dylan’s a terrific player and we have a lot of faith in him,” said Kahn.

Even having to battle through the loser’s bracket with their backs against the wall to make it to the final day of the tournament, the work isn’t done for the Trojans. South Parkland has to take on Norchester, the Berks champion, and with a win there would again see West Lawn in the Region Two Championship.

“It never really bothered us that we wound up in the loser’s bracket,” said Kahn. “Our kids weren’t playing scared. They weren’t down on themselves. They just kept playing baseball. It was the same thing coming in against [previously undefeated West Lawn]. Our guys weren’t intimidated at all.”