Quakertown Blazers 7 vs Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Miners 5 (ECCBL, Championship) - July 28, 2024

After three weeks on the road, we returned home to rest before our trip to Japan, but I still had to get the rental car back to Washington. This worked well as the return date was July 29, the same date the Blue Jays had a single-admission DH in Baltimore. Rather than leave home early Monday morning, I decided to drive part of the way on Sunday as I could get another game. I initially expected to stop in Philadelphia for a Phillies-Guardians tilt, but changed my plan when the pitching matchup featured a couple of call-ups, something I wasn't willing to pay $40 for. Instead, I decided upon a collegiate wood bat championship game in Quakertown, PA. midway between home and my hotel. Nothing like an unexpected new venue!

The East Coast Collegiate Baseball League (ECCBL) formed this year and took some teams from the Atlantic College Baseball League (ACBL), including the Quakertown Blazers. Eight clubs based in South Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania contested the inaugural season and the championship came down to Quakertown and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The game was going to be played in Quakertown regardless of who made it to the finals, which made it easy to plan.

I arrived in town in time to have a happy hour lunch at McCoole's, part of the historic Red Lion Inn (below). It is no longer an inn in the sense of travelers stopping in for the night, but the bar is great and Sunday has happy hour all day. More specifically, Red Lion Brewery beer is available here and well worth the stop.

The inn is also the site of the Fries Rebellion, which happened when local farmers were upset because the inn had run out of french fries. Do not fact check that statement.

With that done, I drove over to Quakertown Memorial Stadium, which first opened in 1939 but was demolished in 2022 in order for a new grandstand to be built. This is the first year of the new structure, which is mostly just cement risers, all under a metal roof. Many fans bring folding chairs to get a bit more comfortable.

Admission was $3 and there was a lineup card given out. There were about 100 fans in attendance, mostly friends and family from what I could tell. I tweeted (which sounds so much better than 'posted on X') my presence and received a shout out from the P.A. announcer due to my affiliation with Stadium Journey.

A small concession stand offered hot dogs, sausages, and chips, with water and Gatorade to quench your thirst. 

And that's about it. The ECCBL doesn't have a lot of information online yet, but it will be worth following if you are into seeing these small town ballparks.

The Game

SWB led the league with a 21-13 record while Quakertown finished 15-16-2 but had won their two playoff games. The Blazers were the visiting team despite the game being played at their home stadium. Most of the players came from D-III baseball schools in the area, though some were from D-I, including Miners starting pitcher Jake Memoli of Fairfield. 

Scranton scored a single in the second, and added a pair of runs in both the third and fourth. Memoli was replaced by Matthew Moreira, who gave up three straight singles before inducing a pop out. A grounder to second should have ended the inning but shortstop Jack Mathis dropped the throw, allowing a run to score. After a shallow fly out, Frank Tavares doubled down the left field line to make it 5-4. A wild pitch sent Tavares to third, and then a grounder to Mathis was thrown high to first allowing Tavares to score and tie the game. We went to the 9th and Nate Dudek came on for SWB, giving up a double to Mike Pascoe, who was driven home by Jackson Shollenberger, who then stole second and scored on a Tv Everitt double to make it 7-5 Blazers.

Quakertown's Malachi Duka came on for the save and gave up a single but struck out the final two batters to preserve the win. It's hard to see but the final was 7-5 in a game that took about 2:40.

Errors were the undoing for the Miners, but at this level, that is to be expected. It was a good game and the home fans left happy.

Notes

This was the seventh different collegiate wood bat league I have seen (Cape Cod, New England, Hudson Valley, Perfect Game, Cal Ripken, Appalachian, East Coast). Although the baseball is not the greatest, the stadiums are often worth visiting and you never know, you might see a future star.

The Phillies lost to Cleveland 4-3, while Toronto split the DH with Baltimore, though a rain delay meant I was unable to stay for the entire second game as I had a train booked. Justin Turner singled in the first inning and was then traded to Seattle, but did not appear in the game in Boston that night.

Next Up

A trip to Ohio to see the NFL's Hall of Fame Game and the Guardians, followed by a short trip to Boston to complete the Frontier League next week. Then the three weeks in Japan to finish off the summer. Check back for recaps as always.

Best,

Sean