HS Baseball: Tamaqua blanks Blue Mountain in fundamental performance

Tamaqua's Luke Kane pictured at Schuylkill League Baseball Media Day (staff photo).

ORWIGSBURG — The baseball purist would have loved it.

This grand old game wasn’t short-changed Thursday afternoon at Allen Greenawalt Field.

Runs were hard to come by, the plays were sensational, and the pitching was straight out of a bygone era. To be sure, it was all about the fundamentals.

Tamaqua, a seasoned and terrific team, had answers both early and late against Blue Mountain — one of the Schuylkill League’s perennial powerhouses. The Blue Raiders eked out a 2-0 victory over the Eagles in a Division I contest.

The win vaulted the defending league champion Blue Raiders into sole possession of first place in Division I at 4-0, while the Eagles suffered their first loss, dropping to 3-1.

Pitching was the focal point, with two of the region’s best on display. Tamaqua’s Mason Ligenza and Blue Mountain’s Aiden Grace locked horns from the first pitch through the seventh inning. Then, Cooper Ansbach stepped in to close it out for the Raiders, registering three strikeouts in relief of Ligenza to earn the save.

The win keeps Tamaqua in control of its quest to defend its title, delivering a gut punch to Blue Mountain. Ligenza, a senior, tossed six full innings, allowed just four singles, struck out eight, and didn’t issue a single walk. He relied on a lively fastball and a filthy curveball to keep the Eagles off balance.

Grace, Frankie Russo, Brady Strause and Riley Sebastian singled for Blue Mountain, but the Eagles could never string hits together.

They had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the fifth, trailing 1-0. Russo and Strause delivered back-to-back one-out singles, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Evan Setlock. Then, Matt Grasso ripped a hard grounder to short, but Ansbach — cool and collected — scooped it up and pegged Grasso out at first, ending the inning and the threat.

“(Ligenza) was so tough on our hitters. We just couldn’t get a hit when we had runners in scoring position,” Blue Mountain skipper Jarrod Kramer said.

Tamaqua head coach Jeff Reading beamed when asked about his defense.

“That ball that Ansbach fielded was hit very hard, but you know we preach to our team — you have to make plays,” Reading said. “And that’s exactly what we did. That’s why we’re winning close games — because we make plays when we need to.”

And this team knows how to manufacture runs when the door is cracked open.

Grace was sharp against the Blue Raider lineup — even stymieing the ever-dangerous Ligenza, a surefire prospect for the next level. Ligenza went hitless in three trips, including his first strikeout of the season. But his teammates picked up the slack.

With two outs in the first inning, Luke Kane punched a 2-2 pitch back up the middle. A wild pitch moved him to second before Ansbach delivered an RBI single to center.

“I was just looking to go up the middle,” Ansbach explained. “I got around on the fastball, and in that situation, all you want to do is stay within yourself and go with the pitch.”

From there, it was a duel on the mound — Ligenza and Grace trading zeros.

“Grace threw an outstanding game,” Reading said. “We knew coming in he was going to be tough. Mason (Ligenza) did a fantastic job, and what can you say about Cooper (Ansbach) and the way he came in and threw strikes?”

Tamaqua added an insurance run in the seventh. Noah Mateyak led off the fifth with a single and stole second, but Grace buckled down and struck out the side. He continued dealing in the sixth, fanning Ligenza and Jake Yenser, before Kane flied out deep to center.

Still, the Blue Raiders weren’t done.

Ansbach picked up his second single of the day and smartly stole second. Logan Morgans followed with an RBI single to left on the first pitch he saw.

“I wasn’t trying to do anything fancy,” Morgans said. “I saw that first-pitch fastball and just squared it up.”

It proved to be a huge insurance run against one of the league’s top teams.

“Anytime you come here and get a win, it’s big,” Reading said.

Indeed, this was baseball the way it was meant to be played: Pitch it, field it and get timely hits.

Tamaqua had the formula.