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The Tigers claim franchise’s 4th championship in 5 seasons
The Lansdale Tigers capped their return to the top of the Perkiomen Valley Twilight League with a decisive 9-1 victory over the Collegeville White Sox Friday night, securing the championship in four games.
According to gameplay coverage from The Mercury, veteran Matt Sperling delivered the exclamation point in the top of the seventh, launching a two-run home run over the right field fence at Weaver Field. It was his first homer in roughly two years.
“Sperling has been with me from my old, old Lansdale teams and he’s always been a guy. And he’s kind of one of our sparkplugs around the team, everyone loves Matt. And to see him hit his first home run in probably about two years and it be a no-doubter was electric," Lansdale manager Jeff Murtha told The Mercury
The Tigers’ offense ignited in the third inning, taking advantage of a two-out error to score four runs. Dylan Tice’s two-out double kept the rally alive, followed by a string of hits from Matt Cavagnaro, Anthony Bruno, Chad Evans and Frank Pollock.
Collegeville’s Kevin Reilly answered with a solo home run to start the bottom of the inning, but Lansdale responded in the fourth with three more runs — Cavagnaro doubled in one, Evans drew a bases-loaded walk, and Pollock’s deep sacrifice fly made it 7-1, according to the report.
Tyler Leonard went the distance for Lansdale, allowing just four hits while striking out five and walking four. The right-hander kept Collegeville scoreless after Reilly’s third-inning blast, stranding two runners in the fourth before retiring the side in order in the fifth and sixth.
Sperling’s homer in the seventh, following a walk to Jason Mills, closed the scoring, per the report.
Evans and Leonard were named Co-MVPs of the finals, helping Lansdale capture its fourth Perky League crown in the past five seasons.
The Tigers previously won three straight titles from 2021-2023, including the 2021 championship as the Skippack Lumberjacks, according to the article.
“Our lineup came in play, our pitching all stacked up and we knew the formula so it was great,” Murtha said. “It means a lot to be back on top with this group of guys.”
