MUHLENBERG TOWNSHIP --- Red Land junior pitcher Kaden Peifer threw his arms up in celebration as the final out of Thursday’s PIAA 5A baseball tournament quarterfinal sailed high into centerfield and into the waiting glove of Benny Montgomery to seal a 5-0 complete-game victory.
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However, Peifer did not immediately realize he’d thrown a no-hitter against District 12 champion Archbishop Wood, as the Muhlenberg High School scoreboard doesn’t display hits. First baseman Cole Wagner informed the hurler of the feat as his Patriots teammate mobbed him behind the mound.
Peifer said he’d had a premonition earlier in the day that something special was going unfold during Thursday’s 5A quarterfinal.
“I woke up and had a feeling it was going to be a good day. I had a feeling I was going to do something special today, but I wasn’t sure what,” Peifer said. “I had a feeling the team was going to play really well and I’m glad they did.”
The right-hander was masterful from the start in helping the Patriots advance to within a win of playing for a state title. He retired the first 10 Archbishop Wood batters he faced, before issuing a walk to Aiden Myers with one out in the fourth. Peifer then took down eight straight Vikings and again walked Myers, leading off the bottom of the seventh. He bore down and recorded a strikeout and two fly ball outs record the no-no.
Peifer struck out 10, walked two and kept Archbishop Wood batters off-balance all afternoon. The lone batted ball that looked like a hit was a rocket of a line drive by Wood catcher Alex Neeld that was snared by Red Land third baseman Ethan Phillips.
Phillips was instrumental at the plate, going two-for-three, and driving in the game’s first run with a long double to left center field in the top of the first inning. Brady Ebbert also rifled a long RBI double later in the first, staking Peifer to all the runs needed to back up his pitching gem.
“We knew this was a good team but getting those two runs definitely boosted the rest of the game for us,” Peifer said. “They put hard balls in play, but we just made the plays. That made me feel good, knowing I had the defense backing me up. It was a great team win.”
Peifer helped his own cause in the third inning with a ringing run-scoring double of his own. Another run scored in the inning on a bases-loaded double play, widening the Red Land advantage to 4-0. Wagner stroked a bloop double down the left field line in the sixth to account for the Patriots final run.
Then, it was fingernail-biting time on the Red Land bench, although no one whispered to Peifer about the situation.
“It’s never cool until you get the last out in a game like that,” said Red Land head coach Nate Ebbert, “That’s a heck of a hitting lineup he just mowed through pretty well. He had everything working. We only had to get 11 outs in the field, which helps things out.
“Ethan had some good at bats today and Brady hit the ball hard. Our whole lineup down through is tough to get through four times. We put together good at-bats. We had a game plan and executed it well.”
Ebbert said he wasn’t sure If he would start Peifer on three days rest in Monday’s 5A semifinal.
The District 3 champion Patriots (24-4) will play the winner of the Manheim Central-Abington Heights game Monday at a site and time to be determined.
Red Land (24-4) – 202-001-0 – 5 7 0
Archbishop Wood (19-5) – 000-000-0 – 0 0 1
WP – Kaden Peifer. LP – Mike Trommer
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June 11, 2021 at 07:19AM
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Kaden Peifer no-hits Archbishop Wood as Red Land advances to within a win of playing for 5A state title - PennLive
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