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Nick Laubach opened his season looking like one of the area’s premier pitchers. Then the junior endured some struggles, but Loyalsock coach Zac Martin never lost confidence.
And on the big Bowman Field stage, under the lights against 6A Williamsport, Laubach showed just how good he is. After the first inning, he looked downright nasty. So did Ethan Nagy when he replaced Laubach in the seventh.
Laubach threw 6 1/3 brilliant innings of four-hit baseball before Nagy struck out the game’s final two batters, leaving the tying runners on the corners, as Loyalsock defeated Williamsport in the Backyard Brawl’s second semifinal Friday night. The Lancers (12-5) won their fourth straight, defeated Williamsport (9-5) for a third consecutive time at the Brawl and earned a spot against Montoursville in Saturday’s championship at 11 a.m.
Williamsport will play South Williamsport in the consolation contest approximately 30 minutes following that game’s conclusion.
“I’m glad everybody got to see who Nick is and what he’s about because he’s absolutely an ace,” Martin said. “He struggled the last couple games but I’m glad everybody got to see what he is all about.”
What he was all about last night was pounding the strike zone, keeping Williamsport off-balance and mowing through the lineup following the first inning. Deacon Brown hit a one-out RBI single that tied the game, 1-1 in that opening inning, but Laubach left the bases loaded with one out. An inning later, Laubach left two more runs on base with one out.
And then Laubach started really feeling it. He retired the next eight hitters, surrendered just two more hits and had Williamsport chasing the pitches he wanted them to go after. Following a 31-pitch first inning, Laubach closed the game at 90 and never threw more than 14 pitches in an inning again.
“It was exciting to get the start today. I had a rough first inning, but I tried to settle in after that and throw some more strikes and pitch to contact,” Laubach said. “My guys behind are great. I know they will make plays for me.”
They certainly did. Loyalsock played an error-less game, and first baseman Matt Worth made the play of the game in that first inning. When a two-out grounder produced an errant throw, Worth jumped high, caught it and made the tag as he was coming down, beating the runner by a step. If Worth does not make the tag, one run scores and Williamsport takes the lead. If the throw gets by him, two runs score.
His defense gave him added confidence and Laubach started taking over, mixing his pitches well and working ahead. The right-hander’s change-up was especially effective and helped Laubach induce 10 fly outs or pop outs. Another Brown RBI single cut the deficit to 4-2 in the fifth inning, but Laubach shook it off and continued dealing from there.
“I just have to attack guys and go from there,” Laubach said. “I think the change-up played a big part. I think it was moving away and they were getting the end of the barrel on it.”
“I’m incredibly proud of who he is,” Martin said. “He’s a body language guy. He cares so much, but when he controls his body language, he is money.”
So was Nagy.
After Laubach retired Williamsport’s first batter in the seventh inning, Xavier Taylor (1 for 1, two runs) scorched a double to center field. Martin called on Nagy, who closed out a 7-6 win at Mount Carmel two days earlier. After some tense moments, the switch worked perfect.
Cayden Robertson fought back from a 1-2 count and drew a walk, while Taylor advanced to third on a wild pitch. Williamsport had its Nos. 3-4 hitters coming up, but Nagy stormed back a day after celebrating his 16th birthday. The sophomore was throwing in the upper 80s and blew consecutive fastballs past those final two hitters, getting each one to swing and miss while clinching Loyalsock’s sixth Backyard Brawl final appearance in seven seasons.
“I knew Nagy would get out of it. He’s a dog as a closer. He throws hard; he’s a great pitcher,” Laubach said. “For him to leave those guys on, that’s huge.”
“He’s learning to step up in big moments. He’s still young and sometimes we forget that with him because he’s so good,” Martin said. “That’s elite stuff to get stronger in a big moment. That was awesome.”
Griffin Vollman was super in relief for Williamsport, striking out six in 3 1/3 innings while allowing just one run. The Lancers did not smash the baseball all over the field but did an excellent job manufacturing runs. That was evident from the start with Moxen Cotter reaching on a hit by pitch, stealing second, going to third on Cooper Larson’s deep fly ball to left field and scoring the game’s first run on Worth’s sacrifice fly.
Loyalsock went small ball after Kyhler Allis led off the third inning with a double and went up to stay, 2-1. Cotter bunted Allis to third and Allis scored on Larson’s sacrifice fly. Cotter was hit by a bases-loaded pitch in the third inning before Nagy’s bunt single loaded the bases in the fourth following Worth and Braydon Miller (2 for 3) singles. Tyler Gee made it 4-1 when he drew an RBI walk, but Vollman slammed the door from there, striking out the side and leaving the bases loaded. The lefty did not allow another hit and retired nine of Loyalsock’s last 10 batters.
After Williamsport threatened twice in the opening innings, it had just one runner reach scoring position until the final inning. Laubach needed just four pitches in the third inning to retire the side, inducing three straight pop outs. The Millionaires kept battling, though, and the final moments were exciting as a large crowd made its presence felt in a game which felt every bit like a playoff contest.
“This game means so much to these kids. I think with Williamsport on the other side, a lot of these kids know each other, and they compete in basketball and baseball pretty heavily,” Martin said. “It means a lot to them, so you see the emotion on the kids’ faces. It was really cool to see how much they cared and how much they wanted it.”
Loyalsock 101 110 0–4 6 0
Williamsport 100 010 0–2 4 1
Nick Laubach, Ethan Nagy (7) and Cooper Larson. Cayden Robertson, Griffin Vollman (4) and Adam Aldenderfer. W–Laubach. L–Robertson. SV–Nagy.
Top Loyalsock hitters: Worth 1-2, BB, RBI, R; Braydon Miller 2-3, BB; Ethan Nagy 1-3, R; Kyhler Allis 1-3, 2B, R; Kaden Rodarmel 1-3. Top Williamsport hitters: Deacon Brown 2-4, 2 RBIs; Xavier Taylor 1-1, 2B, 2 BB, 2R; Owen Berry 1-3.
Records: Loyalsock 12-5. Williamsport 9-5.