PINE GROVE - Marcus Brown didn't play much during the high school season.
A sophomore at Pine Grove this past spring, Brown played in only nine games for the Cardinals, and had just four official at-bats.
The Legion season, however, has been a different story. He's played left field, right field, catcher, where ever he's been needed.
The designated hitter Saturday night, Brown had a starring role as the Grovers captured the Schuylkill-Berks Legion League North Division championship with a 7-3 victory over Valley View at Stump Stadium.
Brown had a pair of clutch RBI singles as Pine Grove (17-3-1) advanced to the best-of-3 league championship series against South Division champion Oley/Topton. Game 1 is set for 7 p.m. Monday at Stump Stadium.
"Marcus has been battling and working hard. He's taken advantage of his opportunities," Pine Grove coach Frank D'Agostino III said. "He's been hitting hard line drives in key spots. He came through tonight."
Brown's two hits came in the fourth and fifth innings, when Pine Grove collected five of its six hits and tallied all seven of its runs.
Trailing 1-0, Pine Grove scored five runs in the fourth inning, knocking out Valley View starter Travis Crider.
Steve Zimmerman opened the frame with a leadoff walk and Brandon Scheibley singled to put runners on the corners. Brown followed with a single to left to tie it.
"My coach came up and said 'I might have to squeeze you here.' I'm not that great at bunting, so I figured I had to get a base hit or I would have to bunt, and that
wouldn't have been pretty," Brown said. "I waited back on a fastball and took it to left field."
Valley View skipper Derek Masser pulled Crider at that point, bringing in hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Bordner. Bordner fanned Josh Scheibley for the second out, and appeared out of the jam when Wade Bressler hit a grounder toward second.
Brown's hustle from first to second base, however, forced Valley View's second baseman to bobble the ball and hurry his throw to second, which was dropped. If Brown doesn't hustle, the inning would have been over.
"Throughout high school and Legion, all of our coaches teach us to hustle through," Brown said. "I got a good jump and figured there's always chance he'll bobble it, always a chance there will be an overthrow. I just wanted to get to second as fast as I could. When I slid in and saw he dropped the ball, it was a sigh of relief."
The error seemed to rattle Valley View, as Bordner proceeded to walk Nick Cataldo to give Pine Grove a 2-1 lead. Jed Blankenhorn followed with a blooper to short right field that scored Brown and Bressler.
When the throw from right field sailed past the catcher, Cataldo scored to give the Grovers a 5-1 cushion.
"I was trying to put the bat on the ball and put the ball in play," Blankenhorn said. "The bases were loaded and I was just trying to drive everybody in."
The West Enders (10-11) sliced the Pine Grove lead to 5-2 with an unearned run in the top of the fifth, but Pine Grove took advantage of two more Valley View errors to score a pair of runs in the bottom half.
Brown delivered a bases-loaded RBI single through a drawn-in infield for the first run, while Josh Scheibley made it 7-2 with a sacrifice fly.
"We needed something to push us through the end of the game," Brown said. "Bordner is a really good pitcher, and I saw the fastball coming in on the inside and took it that way."
The five-run cushion was plenty for Pine Grove starter Jared McCabe, who allowed just four hits, walked four and struck out five in a complete-game effort.
McCabe started a key 1-2-3 double play to get out of a second-inning jam, and was able to mix his curveball with a fastball that seemed to have more pop on it than usual. Of the three runs McCabe allowed, only one was earned.
"I had a lot of soreness in my back during the high school season, some chronic pain," McCabe said. "Tonight I felt 100 percent, and I think that's what really helped me. I had a good confidence tonight and I felt I had a little extra speed on my pitches.
"These guys are good hitters, and it takes good pitching to stop these guys."
Legion Prep Pottsville 3 Conrad Weiser 2
ROBESONIA - Corey Holobetz scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on a bases loaded walk to back up a complete game by Josh Melochick in Pottsville's victory.
Holobetz's walk came during a 12-pitch at-bat. Brent Gauntlett added a two-run single for Pottsville.
Melochick allowed three hits and struck out four in his seven innings.
Game Summary
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