Pa. Boys: Coach's hunch on pitcher pays off for New Hope-Solebury

New Hope-Solebury

coach Matt Schram used a hunch to pick his starting pitcher for yesterday's PIAA District 1 Class AA championship baseball game, and the pick resulted in the school's first title.

Righthanded senior Paul Bako, who had pitched just five innings in relief all season and had no decisions, threw a complete game with three strikeouts and four walks as the Lions (17-3) defeated

St. Pius X

, 10-5, in the final at Quakertown.

"He's usually the catcher," Schram said about Bako. "My gut went with Paul and he did a nice job throwing. He's done a lot of bullpen work."

Senior shortstop Alex Azar went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for New Hope, which rallied from an early 3-0 deficit with an eight-run second inning and advanced to next week's state tournament.

District 1 Class AAA.

Joe Maloney's third home run of the season was a leadoff blast that started a five-run fifth inning and carried

Sun Valley

(21-1) to a 7-5 win over

Marple Newtown

in the District 1 championship game at Glen Mills.

The title was the second in four years and the win was the 21st in a row for the Vanguards, who have not lost since opening day.

Senior Pat Sheridan (5-0) got the pitching win, and Sun Valley bunched four of its 11 hits in the big fifth inning.

After Maloney's homer, Bob Westbrook walked and scored on Sam Farnell's double, Pat Sheridan's ground ball brought in a run, and Andrew Machemer (3 for 3) and pinchhitter Max O'Malley followed with run-scoring singles.

District 1 Class A.

Galen Halteman maintained his perfect pitching record (6-0) by steering

Christopher Dock

to its second District 1 title in three years with a 10-0 blitz of

Morrisville

in the title game at Council Rock North.

Halteman pitched all five innings, striking out six, walking nine and losing his no-hit bid on a one-out single in the fifth.

Ryan Seiz doubled, hit a bases-empty home run, drove in three runs, and scored twice in the Pioneers' 12-hit attack.

Andy Richter went 2 for 3, Alex Summers lined a two-run double, and Nathan Reichert drove in two runs with a single and a double for Christopher Dock, which also beat the Bulldogs by 5-2 in the regular season.

District 1 Class AAAA.

In the third-place game at West Chester University,

Avon Grove

blanked

Conestoga

, 11-0, behind unbeaten senior pitcher Paul Glenn (9-0).

Glenn threw three innings of the three-hit shutout, and Andrew Harrison and Dean Roland added an inning apiece.

The Red Devils (19-4) rapped 13 hits, including Paul Marcano's three-run homer in the fourth inning, three hits by Eric Kukoda, and two from Diego Balcazar.

District 1 Class AAA.

Sun Valley

went home with the district trophy by dealing

Marple Newtown

a 7-5 setback in the championship game at Glen Mills.