The Philly Fightin' Quakers knew heading into their semifinal against the Philly Mummers on Tuesday night that getting ahead early would be crucial.
They executed that plan to perfection.
Michael Christian opened the game with a first-pitch single, and the Quakers capitalized with two first-inning runs off Mummers starter Logan Hinds. They added three more in the second — more than enough support for standout right-hander Justus Agosto.
The North Alabama product cruised through five innings while the offense piled on, collecting 10 hits, drawing four walks, and swiping four bags. The result: a complete 10-3 victory and a berth in the Philly Select College League championship game.
“When Justus is on the mound, he brings energy and the rest of the team feels that energy,” Quakers head coach Pete Hoffman said. “Mike [Christian] started off with a base knock. We had a plan. We thought we could run the bases a little bit today. They executed that. We did that right out of the gate with him, and we're able to cash in early. You cash in two runs early with Justus on the mound and this dugout is feeling really good.”
Agosto entered the game coming off a dominant outing — 10 strikeouts over four shutout innings against Rake on July 23. And he picked up right where he left off, striking out the first three Mummers he faced. Though his stuff wasn’t quite as sharp as it had been, he remained effective.
He surrendered just one run — an RBI single by Matt Carr in the second — and struck out four more over the next four innings, giving the Quakers exactly what they needed.
“Obviously, it's hard to compete with my last outing, but I kept us in the lead, or kept us close,” Agosto said. “On a day like today, I didn't have all my stuff, but my fastball was working. And it's hard when you don't have other pitches working, because they can time up the fastball easily. So here and there, I'll mix it up. It was good overall.”
Christian, typically the No. 2 hitter, set the tone from the leadoff spot and filled up the stat sheet. He finished 3-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, an RBI, a run scored, and two steals.
“It was nothing more than seeing the ball well,” Christian said. “I’ve been seeing it well the last couple of games and carried that into today’s game.”
The Quakers scored in every inning except the third, doing the most damage in the second without recording a hit — three batters were hit by pitches, another walked, and an error brought in two runs. They added on in the fourth with Christian scoring again after another leadoff hit and a throwing error.
“Offensively, I think they tried to get themselves in good plus counts, and we saw that a lot today,” Hoffman said. “They got good swings off in plus counts, which is important. I thought they took some tough pitches, too.”
Even Agosto got in on the action at the plate. He singled in the fifth — his first hit in six or seven years, by his estimate — and later came around to score on Christian’s third knock. He also worked a bases-loaded walk in the sixth, bringing home the Quakers’ 10th and final run.
“I love baseball,” Agosto said. “When you're not pitching on a normal day, you're just sitting back watching baseball, so it's good to get out there and have fun.”
Now, the Quakers will turn their attention to Wednesday night’s title game against the Philly Bandits. The top-seeded Quakers have been the league’s most consistent team all summer and enter the final on a three-game winning streak.
“If we can just hold this momentum, it should be a good ball game,” Hoffman said. “That's all I can ask these guys to do. They're going to be a little tired tomorrow, going back-to-back games. But this team, they enjoy playing together, they have good energy and they want to win. That's all we can ask for.”
