Truman baseball has turned its season around

Harry S. Truman is on a roll.

The Tigers have won six in a row to move within one game of Suburban One League Patriot Division-leading Pennsbury.

Truman heads into Wednesday's home date with SOL Colonial first-place team North Penn at 8-6 overall (6-3 in the SOL) after starting the season 0-5 (0-2 SOL), meaning it's 8-1 in the last nine outings. Monday's scheduled game at Central Bucks South was postponed due to wet conditions.

A program that hasn't reached the District One playoffs since 2018 or finished with a winning record since 2011, which was the last time it won a game at districts, is making itself heard.

"Everyone's starting to believe," said senior pitcher/infielder Andrew Armstrong. "We're getting confidence on the team we haven't had in a long time. It's really fun. We really look forward to going to the field."

A 6-4 non-league victory over Archbishop Wood in which sophomore Nate Gilson's two-run double helped Truman score five runs in the top of the seventh inning started the surge.

A 6-1 win against Neshaminy and a 10-7 loss to Bensalem followed.

The six-game streak began with a 4-0 week that featured an 11-2 decision of Council Rock South, 10-7 win against Pennridge, 5-4 walk-off victory over defending SOL Colonial champ Souderton on senior Caleb Wright's RBI single and a 6-2 non-league victory against Hopewell Valley.

Then came a 10-6 triumph over Central Bucks East and last Thursday's 4-3 walk-off win against Central Bucks West, which went into the game tied with North Penn for first in the SOL Colonial. Senior shortstop Wyatt Spinks' two-run homer with one out in the bottom of seventh set off the Truman celebration.

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"We knew the chemistry was there and the talent," Spinks said. "We had everything we needed to compete. People underestimate us, so we play with a chip on our shoulder. We want to show them we're here. It's about getting the respect from other teams in the league and showing what we can do."

A season ago, the Tigers went 8-12 (6-10 SOL).

Spinks, a shortstop, leads Truman in batting average (.439), hits (18) and runs (16), while Armstrong is batting .417 and leading the Tigers in on-base percentage (.553), OPS (1.275), doubles (4), triples (2) and RBIs (14). Armstrong had five RBIs in the win over CB East.

The Tigers' starting pitching staff of Charleston Southern-bound Ryan Cavanaugh (32 strikeouts in 19⅓ innings, 1.45 ERA), Armstrong (a Bloomsburg commit) and freshman Austin Allen has been reliable and effective, which is essential.

"Coming into the season, I knew our pitching would keep us in games," said first-year head coach Brian Sinkiewicz, who succeeded athletic director Tim Monaghan in that position. "I knew we could compete."

Once the offense clicked, Sinkiewicz figured the wins would follow and they have.

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Since the annual March trip to Florida, Sinkiewicz has been stressing the importance of buying into a team-first attitude and playing situational baseball, such as moving runners up from second base with nobody out. The results indicate how that's going.

"We all really bonded," Armstrong said. "The last few years, we never really had the confidence we have now. It's great people are starting to fight for each other and have confidence the next guy up will do the job. The sky's the limit for us."

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A 4-0 record in SOL crossover games has been a big boost for the Tigers, who are now winning the close games they lost earlier this spring.

"I think we're very capable of going to the (district) playoffs, winning the whole thing and going to states," said Spinks, who is headed to Chestnut Hill College. "As long as we clean up the mental mistakes and just play our baseball, we should be fine."

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Truman baseball is figuring out how to win close games