Pennsville’s Streitz has a game for the ages, leads Eagles to come-from-behind road win over Haddon Twp. in SJ Group 1 quarterfinals
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WESTMONT – Matt Karr isn’t one prone to hyperbole, but after watching the performance from one of his most veteran players Friday afternoon there really was no other way the Pennsville baseball coach could describe it.
Senior Logan Streitz had a game for the ages – and they’ve had some ages in the Eagles’ baseball program. He put on clinic that encompassed all three phases of the game. He hit. He fielded. He pitched. He truly was The Man as the Eagles beat Haddon Twp. 13-7 in the second round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
“Logan Streitz may have just played the best game in Pennsville baseball history,” Karr said. “It was that good.”
He went 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI doubles, the go-ahead three-run homer and seven RBIs. He made a diving catch at second base with the bases loaded and turned it into a game-saving, inning-ending unassisted double play. Then he went to the mound and pitched two innings of no-hit relief with four strikeouts to slam the door on the third-seeded Hawks.
“It was unbelievable,” Karr said. “He comes up in the sixth and launches a bomb to right field to gives us the lead. As he was rounding third I just pointed at him and said ‘You are the man.’ I had no other words.
“Pennsville baseball is a storied, storied program and I’m sure if you sat down and flipped through and really studied who had great games there’ve been masterful performances up and down our history … but he did all three phases of the game today about as good as you could do.”
Karr was awestruck just watching it. Streitz was living it and even he had a hard time describing it
“I would say I had a pretty good game,” he said. “This is definitely going to be the No. 1 game I remember from all my games in high school.
“As I was going around the bases after the home run I just kind of went into a blur. It didn’t feel real. Same with the diving play. It kind of hit me a little bit, but it just didn’t feel real.”
Streitz’ first double gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead in the third inning. His second drove in a run during a three-run rally in the fourth that tied the game. The Hawks took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the inning and threated to blow it open loading the bases with one out, but that’s when Streitz let his defensive prowess shine. Shading up the middle with the infield in, he lunged to snare Kirby Rice’s liner, got to his feet and raced to the bag to complete the double play.
“That was game-saving right there,” Karr said. “Who knows the floodgates that open if that ball goes through and 7-6 turns into 9-6 and who knows what else. That was just an unbelievable athletic play, a headsy play. To be able to stay in the moment knowing he had to jump up and make another play was awesome.
But the heroics were far from over. Streitz came to the plate in the sixth after Jake Layfield and Mason O’Brien opened the inning with walks and gave the Eagles the lead for good with his long homer to right. He hit a third RBI double in seventh to make it 12-7.
“That’s a home run I won’t forget,” Streitz said. “He threw me a low fastball down the middle and I kind of got all over that. I would say (the walkoff against) Wildwood (was as big a homer as he’s hit), but this is a playoff game so I’d definitely have to say this was (the biggest).”
With starter Gavin Spears well past 100 pitches through five innings, Karr turned the mound over to Streitz in the sixth. The right-hander hit the first batter he faced, then settled in and picked up a six-out save without much drama.
“I just tried my best to stay calm and collected, because when I’m not it starts to get wild,” Streitz said. “I just feel a lot more comfortable coming in as a reliever close.”
He was so comfortable on this day he was having a running conversation with the umpire in the seventh inning instead of warming up.
“He was just in the zone, man,” Karr said.
The Eagles got gutsy performances throughout the lineup.
O’Brien hurtshis shoulder diving for a ball in the first inning, but stayed in the game. It looked to be getting worse with each swing at the plate, but he stuck it out and poked a double over the centerfielder’s head to set the stage for Streitz’ first RBI double. Catcher Mike McClincy throws a runner out in a key situation. Scott Streitz, Logan’s younger brother, gets an at-bat in the seventh and delivers his first varsity hit. It just went on and on
“It was just amazing the way everything worked out,” Karr said. “There were just so many guys who found a little way to contribute. It was such a team effort. For us to be down early, come back to take the lead and give it back up, it’s nice to see your guys really stick it out and kind of come together and put it all together.”
The Eagles now play Woodstown in the South Jersey semifinals Wednesday. They’ll have a lot of incentive for this one. The Wolverines knocked them out of the playoffs each of the last two years.
| Pennsville | 012 | 303 | 4- | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| Haddon Twp. | 105 | 100 | 0- | 7 | 10 | 2 |
Top photo: Pennsville’s Logan Streitz (L) approaches the plate after hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in Friday’s South Jersey Group I playoff game at Haddon Twp. (Screenshot from Gamechanger video)
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