The Wanderers made a deep run in the Region 2 baseball tournament, but ultimately came up short losing to Quakertown 12-2 last week to end their summer.

The double-elimination tournament came down to a deciding, winner-take-all championship between both clubs when the Wanderers defeated Quakertown 6-0 to hand them their first loss of the tournament.

Unfortunately, a nine-run, sixth inning in the championship finale doomed the Wanderers’ chance at advancing to the state tournament, as Quakertown came away with the title.

It was the third encounter between both teams in the tournament, as Quakertown handed the Wanderers a 3-1 loss in the second game of the tournament, forcing them to play their way through the bracket with their backs against the wall.

“I was incredibly proud of our team,” said manager Paul Walsh. “After losing a tight game two, it is such a grind to come through the bracket and get to the finals. It requires long outings by pitchers to ensure there is enough pitching left each day the team moves on. We got this and more from our pitching staff. Other than the final game against Quakertown, each of our starting pitchers went at least six innings with multiple pitchers throwing complete games. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

The Wanderers forced the deciding game with a 6-0 win over Quakertown. As much as they would have liked to keep pushing forward this summer, Walsh was proud of what this group had accomplished.

“I don’t really like the word disappointed,” he said. “We were left hungry for next year, but not disappointed. It is hard to feel disappointed after winning a league title and being the first Wanderers team to reach a regional final in over 50 years or more. It’s always nice to win, but I’m pretty much anything but disappointed in this team for what they accomplished.”

Walsh now hopes that the club can continue building their recent tradition of winning and culture with future teams.

“We actually can return a bunch of players (juniors, seniors, and college freshmen) and can add guys who didn’t come out this year,” he said. “I’m hoping that the current guys talking about the great experience they had as Wanderers will fuel new players to join the team.

“I really believe we are building a culture in this program that players take to. Yes, it is becoming a culture of winning. But more importantly, it is a culture that prioritizes what it means to play for something beyond yourself. When you become a Wanderer, you become a part of a long tradition of hard working ballplayers who put their team first and have a no-quit attitude. You become a part of a family. Playing for each other. That’s what this team did, and that’s what this organization will continue to do as long as I am at the helm.”

JC Spinosa came away as the batting champion of the tournament, batting .450 and collecting nine hits.