“You’ll want to talk to Jake Yang. He’s our catalyst,” Central Bucks South head coach Kevin Bray texted.
That very night, visiting Bensalem carried a no-hitter into the seventh. Yet Titans pitchers Brett Barrett and Luke Hillegass countered with plenty of zeros to produce a scoreless game with one out left in regulation.
Junior Yang walked, stole second and third, then scored the walk-off run when Luke Poley drilled South’s first hit.
“I said that for a reason. As he goes, we go,” Bray said postgame. “He is a heck of a baseball player and even better as a leader. He just finds a way to get it done.”
“Everyone has been pitching around me and I’m getting walked a lot,” Yang noted, “so I’m trying to steal a bunch of bases, do my job and have my teammates drive me in. We were off to a little bit of a rough start but we’ve picked it up with a three-game win streak and we’re looking to continue.”
Yang has sparked South all season. He has a .421 on base percentage, 10 steals and just six strikeouts in 38 plate appearances … and is quick to defer credit. “I just thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before every game,” Yang said. “It’s for Him and I trust Him through it all.”
Entering Tuesday at Souderton, where the Titans lost 5-3, CB South (6-7, 5-7 SOL) ranked 23rd in the district power rankings. The top 24 teams advance to the 6A playoffs.
“We’re trying to keep it as simple as we can. We have a really good group. They’re young but they are a heckuva team,” Bray shared. “They want to be here. They put in the work. They have really come a long way as a group from Day One to now. And they care about each other.”
A 9-7 Tax Day loss to North Penn – South’s third straight close loss – put them at 2-5. Behind two RBIs from Owen Pinkerton, South rebounded the next day with a 6-5 win over Council Rock North to start a three-game win streak.
“It gave us a spark,” said Pinkerton, who was hitting .250 with nine steals at press time. “I feel like the bats started in the North game and that gave us a little bit of confidence. We relaxed once we got wins against both Council Rocks. It let us take a step back and just play some baseball.”
“We were playing tough teams and had some tough losses but we know what we are capable of,” Yang added. “We just have to keep grinding.”
Pitching, especially from southpaw Hillegass, has been the strength of the club. The tall sophomore has a 1.00 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 28 innings after his recent 1-0 handcuffing of Pennsbury. “I’ve been there mentally, doing my job as part of the team and it’s all kind of clicked into place,” Hillegass said.
Close games have been South’s MO: nine of the Titans’ contests have been one- or two-run affairs. Pitching in so many tight games has taught Hillegass “to never be down. Keep your head up. Always compete,” he explained. “Our team has been really good at that. We’ve always been competing. We never get down. We always find a way to get out of a hole.”
“Our pitching staff has been really really good,” Bray commented. “Offensively, we’ve had some struggles at times but it all starts with throwing strikes and our guys have been able to do that as of late. Luke Hillegass has been dominant for us in really tough spots against some really good teams. Jake Ruddle behind the plate has been a really solid backstop for us. Jake Yang and Owen Pinkerton up the middle are guys you want to build a team around. They are good people from great families.”
A tight-knit bunch wants to be in the mix when district playoffs start on May 20. Pinkerton, the starting quarterback on the District One football champions, sees a group with great chemistry. “We’ve had ups and downs but no matter what, we’re always having fun,” Pinkerton explained. “We’re always trying to do our best and together, we feel like a family.”
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