QUAKERTOWN - North Parkland pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh inning Saturday to pull out an 8-6 victory over Birches in the Region 2 Legion tournament at Memorial Stadium.

The loss, coupled with Friday’s defeat to Hamburg, eliminated the Birches - champions of the NORCO League - and ended their season.

Trailing by a 6-3 score heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Birches rallied for three runs to tie the score.

With one out, Shane Knappenberger walked and Nathan Loch followed with a single. Dominic Payan then worked a walk to load the bases. Andrew Meitzler was hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Brandon Ratti hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Loch to trim the deficit to 6-5. A balk allowed Payan to trot home with the tying run.

The momentum gained by the Birches in the sixth quickly faded in the seventh as North Parkland scored a pair of runs.

With two outs and a runner on third, Cole Skrapits came through with his third hit of the game - an RBI double - to allow North Parkland to regain the lead. The winners tacked on an insurance run as Owen Ondrejca followed with another run-scoring two-base hit.

The Birches tried to mount another comeback in the home seventh when Ryan Adamski and Jake Gethen led off the inning with walks. But North Parkland reliever David Sepko got two strikeouts and a ground out to end the contest and record the save.

The winners finished with 16 hits in the game, as Skrapits, Ondrejca and Joseph Algard each had three. Sean Rivera chipped in with two. For the Birches, Loch finished 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, two runs scored and an RBI. Ratti added a pair of hits and knocked in three runs. Payan was on base three times with a hit and two walks.

EARLY LEAD ... The Birches jumped out to an early advantage with two runs in the home first, with both runs scoring on Ratti’s single to center.

BIG INNING ... North Parkland used a four-run fourth to grab the lead. It received RBI singles from Algard, Skrapits and Ondrejca while a wild pitch accounted for the other tally.

BOTTOM OF THE LINEUP ... The Birches pitching held North Parkland’s top hitters in check. The 1-5 batters in the lineup were just 5-for-19, but the 6-9 hitters ended the contest 11-for-16 with five runs and five RBIs.

GETTING ON BASE ... Butch Foust’s club worked 10 walks in the contest. However, the Birches also finished with 10 men left on base, including at least one in every inning.

N. Parkland 001 401 2 - 8 16 0

Birches 200 103 0 - 6 7 1

Algard, Razzis (6), Sepko (7) and Razzis, Atiyeh (6); N. Mostosky, Walters (5), Loch (6) and Meitzler. W - Razzis. L - Loch. S - Sepko.