"He's a guy who throws strikes," Washington Township coach Bill Alvaro Jr. said. "He mixes it up and keeps his fielders in the game."
Mark Jankowski and Connor Hanrahan each had two hits and scored two runs, and Vince Nocella delivered a pinch-hit, three-run home run for Washington Township (5-2), the No. 9 team in The Inquirer Top 10.
The Minutemen rapped 16 hits in advancing to face Buena in Saturday morning's semifinals. The tournament title game is set for Saturday afternoon.
"We know we can hit," said Jankowski, a senior third baseman. "We've got a lot of confidence in our lineup."
Senior Brett Solomen hit his fifth home run of the season for Clearview (4-5).
"We're not hitting on all cylinders," Clearview coach Rocco Cornacchia said. "We took a step up in competition and played a quality team. We feel like we're a quality team, too, but we didn't show it today."
Connors said he used a fastball, curveball, slider, and change-up. He pitched 1-2-3 innings in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
"I was throwing all four for strikes," said Connors, who raised his record to 2-1. "I was able to keep them off balance."
Alvaro said the first-inning double play, turned by second baseman Hanrahan and shortstop Matt Long, was the key to the game.
"That was huge," Alvaro said. "That set the tone for the game."
Washington Twp. 101 050 6 - 13 16 0
Clearview 000 000 2 - 2 3 3
WP: Trevor Connors. LP: Dave Young.
2B: WT-Chris DeFranco, Ryan Long.
HR: WT-Vince Nocella. C-Brett Solomen.
Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223 or panastasia@phillynews.com.
