South Parkland came into the Region 2 tournament as the regular season champion out of the Lehigh Valley League and opened regionals with a 7-2 win over Northampton as Kurt Meehan delivered three hits and drove in three runs for the Trojans. Jaiden Wanamaker started and got the win for South Parkland and John Friday and Anthony Medero both provided scoreless relief work over the final 2 1/3 innings.

The win set up a game against Pennridge, which would go on to become the eventual Region 2 champion and downed South Parkland 11-3. Xander Provence led the Trojans out of the leadoff spot with three hits and an RBI, while Sean Superka and Dylan Fili also drove in runs in the game.

Next up was the matchup that fans hoped to see, just later in the tournament. North and South Parkland played at Quakertown Memorial Stadium in an elimination game and went back-and-forth for eight innings until the Southerners came away with an 11-10 win. The game featured a total of 15 hits, but also saw 13 combined errors and 18 combined walks, with 14 of them being issued by Buffaloes pitchers.

South Parkland scored in each of the first five innings with Luke Meehan producing three hits and drawing one of the eight walks taken by Trojans hitters through five innings. Luke Meehan delivered four hits on the day and drove in three runs, while brother Kurt Meehan allowed just one unearned run over 3 1/3 innings on the mound. Luke Meehan started on the mound for the Trojans and was hurt by some errors behind him that allowed eight unearned runs to score in his 3 2/3 innings of work.

“The other guys all pitched well and the guys behind me made some plays,” said Kurt Meehan of his outing on the mound. “I just tried to throw strikes and let the fielders make plays and figured our bats would come alive for us at some point if I could just keep them from doing any more damage.”

For North Parkland, Tyler McNicholas went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI while Jake Barto also collected two hits and drove in two. Joe Algard also drove in two runs with a single to right when the Northerners batted around in the fourth and scored six times to take an 8-5 lead. Gavin Mohry brought South Parkland closer with an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and Luke Meehan’s RBI single in the fifth made it 8-7.

Algard reached on an error in the seventh and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Noah Gunkle to give the Buffaloes a two-run cushion as the Trojans came up for one last shot. Three of the first four batters walked, including Fili, who led off the inning with a walk and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Sean Superka. With runners on first and third and two outs, South Parkland head coach Will Algard went for broke and put on a play where Luke Meehan, the runner on first, broke for second early and caught pitcher James Miskanic off guard, causing him to balk and force home a run to tie the game.

“Really, it’s just kind of a bluff to see what would happen and it worked for us,” said Will Algard of the planned quick brake off of first by Luke Meehan. “The other outcome is that maybe the guy can get in a rundown long enough for the runner on third to come home and score before they get the final out. That was actually my initial thought, but this way worked as well.”

North Parkland was unfazed when they came to the plate and put what they hoped would be the winning run on the board when Barto hit into a fielder’s choice that brought home Cole Skrapits. Kurt Meehan led off with a walk and later scored on a wild pitch and with the bases loaded and two outs, Luke Meehan delivered a game-winning single to left to give South Parkland the win.

“The winning run was on third and there were two outs, so I knew it would take a hit and I looked to drive the ball and I got it through a hole. It was just see the ball, hit the ball,” said Luke Meehan after the win.

On Monday, South Parkland defeated previously undefeated Quakertown 14-4 before falling to Norchester 9-6 and being eliminated. Norchester downed Quakertown in the championship game.

Jaiden Wanamaker hit .600 (6-for-15), while Xander Provence hit .571 (8-for-14) and Luke Meehan produced at a .400 (8-for-20) clip and led the team with five RBI in the tournament. James Miskanic led the team in runs scored with seven and finished with a .333 (5-for-15) performance for South Parkland.