"We just started playing better," Isopi said. "We started fielding a little better, and that got us in a lot more close games, and that led to more timely hitting."
Lenape coach Phil Fiore said his team has received a big lift in recent games from Isopi and senior infielder Kevin McGarry as well as junior lefthanded pitcher Kevin Milley.
Among regulars, Isopi leads Lenape in batting average (.381) and slugging percentage (.712) and is tied for the team lead in home runs (four) and RBIs (23).
Isopi has been at his best in the tournament. He is 4 for 6 with six RBIs in the last two postseason games, victories over Pennsauken and Williamstown.
"He's seeing the ball really well," Fiore said. "The game is slowing down for him. He's really been solid behind the plate."
A top two-way lineman for the Lenape football team, Isopi plans to play that sport at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. He said he hopes to play club baseball in college, and likely will continue to play summer baseball in the Rancocas Valley League.
But he still senses the significance of the end of his high school baseball career. He was part of Lenape teams that were highly ranked and fell short of sectional titles in 2010 and 2011.
This year's team has taken another route to the brink of the program's first title since 1996. Not that the Indians' senior leader is surprised.
"No one on the outside of this team thought we were capable of this," Isopi said. "But we always knew we had a good team. No one else thought we would be here. For us to prove everybody wrong and win the title, that would be huge."
Contact Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223, panastasia@phillynews.com, or @PhilAnastasia on Twitter. Read his blog, "Jersey Side Sports," at www.philly.com/jerseysidesports
