Undefeated Marple Newtown baseball looking for title

THE LAST TIME Marple Newtown High won the Central League title in baseball was in 1996, when most of these Tigers were toddlers.

The Tigers could be in a position to snap that long, dormant streak, and a potentially huge step will come on Friday, when Marple Newtown hosts Conestoga at 3:45 p.m.

Marple Newtown entered this week 10-0 overall, 9-0 in the Central League, the only undefeated team in the league. The Pioneers are 8-3 overall, 7-2 in the league, but possess four Division-I caliber pitchers.

Conestoga probably will start senior righthander Slater McCue, who's headed to Rutgers, while the Tigers are going with lefty Chris Kirsch, who's been a surprise this yearat 3-0 with one save. He's also throwing 87 mph through seven innings.

"This will be a good barometer as to where we stand. John Vogan does a good job with Conestoga, they're very good," said Tigers coach Mark Jordan, who guided Marple Newtown to the PIAA Class AAA state championship game in 2007. "This is about respect, but more importantly, it's a step for us. Conestoga is like the Yankees of the Central League; they're a perennial challenge every year, and this will prep us for the playoffs. If we can beat Slater, we can beat anyone in our district."

Marple Newtown has scored 104 runs, averaging more than 10 runs per game, while surrendering 38 runs, which is less than 4 per game. The Tigers are getting hitting throughout their lineup. Junior shortstop Kurt Johnson, the ninth batter in the lineup, is the Tigers' leading hitter at .531, and the eighth hitter, junior second baseman Scott Todd, is hitting .500. Sophomore Ryan Schollenberger, the starting catcher, bats seventh and is hitting .476.

"Those are our seven, eight and nine hitters, so we have no weak hitters in our lineup," Jordan said. "There are no easy innings with us right now. We just keep pressure on opposing teams an entire game. That's what we'll try to do Friday."

TRACKLESS WONDERS

Jenn Messner-Holdren knew the disadvantages when she became the track coach at the Academy of Notre Dame, located in Radnor, in 2005. Messner-Holdren, a 1999 Notre Dame graduate, inherited a team that fell off terribly from the high school varsity level, assuming almost a club status when the girls would show up to meets when they wanted.

Messner-Holdren wanted girls who were serious about running track. Secondly, she needed to find a track. That's right, the school doesn't have a track. The Irish use a hodgepodge of venues for practice, from borrowing time at surrounding schools to using the "T," the cul-de-sac across from the school.

"At this point, everyone knows who we are running all over the neighborhood," said Messner-Holdren, laughing. "I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. I was coming back to help out, and didn't realize how much I would fall in love with the program. The heart and dedication these girls have, they're the ones that make us want to stay there, despite the fact that we can't compete for a state outdoor title, and the fact we don't have a track."

Still, Messner-Holdren has created an immensely talented team, headed by seniors Ann Kelly and Maura McKendrick, and sophomores Katie Nappi and Maria Seykora. They comprised Notre Dame's 4 x 400 relay at the Penn Relays that ran 3 minutes, 54.74-seconds, which shattered the school record by 7 seconds.

Messner-Holdren, who's assisted by distance coach Laura O'Donnell-Heilman, also has talented junior Julianne Garvey, who is one of the best 3,200-meter runners in Delaware County.

Each day brings something new. It's a great strain just to find a place to practice, especially in the spring with softball and lacrosse in season.

"What's so rewarding as a coach is that these girls are all out to win together, not win for themselves," Messner-Holdren said. "There's been some talk about building a track, but where it goes and when it happens, we have no idea. But I ran there, and I endured those creative practices. The girls deal with their situation with a smile. They know what has to get done to get where they want to be, and they do it."

A SHINING LIGHT

Springfield hasn't exactly had the kind of season coach Jeff Smith was expecting, going 3-7 overall. But the Cougars have had one positive, who basically has kept them in games all season - senior righthanded pitcher Shawn Patterson, who is 1-2, with a 2.50 ERA. The Cougars have been in every game Patterson has started. He lost by a run to Garnet Valley, got a no-decision against Haverford High and beat Radnor, 7-3, last Wednesday.

"You take things as they go," said Patterson, who will play at Shippensburg next year. "You have to control what you can control, because things haven't been easy. We're a lot better than our record, we just haven't found our stroke yet. Some games we'll battle and flash leather, and other games it seems like we have holes in our gloves. We still have hope we can turn this season around." *

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