Cole Forester singled home a run in the fifth inning for Bucks County.
By Rich Bevensee
Whitehouse Post 284 needed a game like this.
After running roughshod over opponents in the bottom half of the Diamond Nation High School Fall League standings, undefeated Whitehouse received its first challenge of the season in its regular season finale against Bucks County Phillies Scout.
Whitehouse quickly realized that Bucks County, riding a three-game winning streak, meant business. The Phillies started hard-throwing lefty Pierce Perry, who struck out six of the seven batters he faced.
Perry also helped himself by leading off the bottom of the first with a triple and scoring on a Cole Forester sacrifice fly. It was the first time Whitehouse had trailed in a Fall League game this season.
But this is a Whitehouse program with a tradition of winning championships. That reputation doesn’t come without overcoming challenges.
The second time through its batting lineup, Whitehouse got a two-run single from Mason Roman in the second inning to take the lead, then received clutch hits from Ty Kane and Brent Ott to register some insurance runs in the sixth to secure a 7-3 win on Tuesday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“That was a great game from beginning to end,” Whitehouse coach Steve Farsiou said. “What’s good about this game is we haven’t played in two weeks, and that is a very good team and they’re very well coached.”
Whitehouse completed the regular season 7-0 and clinched the top seed for the playoffs which begins Monday. Bucks County closed at 9-5 and will be the fifth seed.
Whitehouse is the defending league champion and has won the title in four of the last six seasons (2020, 2022, 2023, 2025).
“This has been really fun,” Farsiou said. “We had a great group in the summer who wanted to be coached, and this group is the same way.”
Zoned RedHawks 18U (6-0-1), Out Of The Park Cyclones 18U (7-1) and Montgomery Superior (14-4) round out the top four seeds.
The 12-team playoff begins Monday, Oct. 26 with four first-round games and the top four seeds receiving a bye. The quarterfinals are slated for Tuesday, Oct. 27. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the semifinals are at 6 p.m. and the championship game is slated for 8 p.m.
Whitehouse players agreed the team needed to play a team like Bucks County. Last week, in what would have been a playoff preview between unbeaten teams, Whitehouse earned a 7-0 forfeit against Cyclones 18U on Oct. 13.
In the five games Whitehouse played leading into Tuesday’s game, the team outscored the opposition, 59-7.
“It’s always best to play the best competition,” said Whitehouse righty Nico West, who surrendered one run in four strong innings. “Playing guys who are below you doesn’t help. Playing guys at your level or above you and trying to be better than them is what makes you a better baseball player.”
Bucks County’s Perry, who is slowly coming back from undergoing Tommy John surgery last September, was once again limited in duty but terrific in the innings he did pitch. Perry is committed to Division 2 Millersville as a two-way player.
For the second straight outing Perry was permitted to pitch two innings and he recorded all six outs by strikeout, walking one.
In the bottom of the first, Perry rifled a triple into center and scored on a sac fly from the next batter, Forester. That was the only run Whitehouse’s West would yield in four innings of work.
“What I really liked about our team tonight,” Farsiou said, “is after seven of our first eight outs were strikeouts and then they scored first, we didn’t flinch.”
Matty Dalfonzo slides home safely in the third inning to give Whitehouse a 2-1 lead.
Whitehouse took the lead in the top of the third when Ty Kane led off with a walk, Matty Dalfonzo earned a two-out walk and Roman drove them both in with a single to right for a 2-1 lead.
Whitehouse padded its lead in the fourth with a pair of runs, one unearned. Jackson Crimaldi led off with a double and scored when Schenkel doubled into the left field corner. Schenkel stole third and scored on an errant throw for a 4-1 Whitehouse lead.
Meanwhile, West, a senior at Gill St. Bernard’s, was masterful over his final three innings, facing one batter over the minimum. He struck out six while allowing three hits and no walks using a four- and two-seam fastball, curveball and changeup.
“Glad to see Nico do well. He’s a gamer,” Farsiou said. “I had no doubt he would come out and throw like that. That’s what we call a dog right there. Whoever gets him is gonna be very happy.”
Bucks County rallied in the fifth against Whitehouse reliever L.T. Parillo. With two outs and the bases loaded, Perry earned a walk to force in a run and Forester beat out a slow roller for an RBI single to pull the Phillies within 4-3.
Parillo induced the next batter, Danny Seidler, into a fielder’s choice to escape further damage.
Whitehouse didn’t waste any time taking back its cushion, thanks to a rally fueled by the bottom half of its batting order.
Nos. 5 and 6 batters Joey Tedesco and Luke Schenkel led off the inning with walks. With one out, Kane pulled a single into right to score Tedesco, and Ott followed with a scorching double inside the third base bag to drive home Schenkel and Kane for a 7-3 lead.
“In a situation like that, we’re trying to go hard and make them make plays,” said Ott, a junior at Phillipsburg. “I got a fastball there, middle in, and I just attacked it and hit it down the line.”
“I think our lineup is solid 1 through 10,” Farsiou said. “We have confidence in them to execute what we want to do.”
Henry Kusant, a sophomore at Hunterdon Central, pitched a scoreless sixth and concluded the game by inducing a double play.
The win gave Whitehouse the added confidence in not only playing against good teams, Ott said, but also that they can close out tight games.
“It helps us see the way we play under pressure and the way we can gel as a team,” Ott said. “Our middle infielders were really good there, turning a double play to end the game. I think it’s a great way to gel and get a feel for each other in terms of how we’re going to play in a high leverage game like that.”