Jordan’s return to Marple ends with progress and a tie

NEWTOWN TWP. — Mark Jordan was late to his homecoming Monday.

“Traffic on 476,” said the idiosyncratic Radnor coach as he hustled to the visitors bench at Marple Newtown.

“Nothing to see here, folks.”

This time last year, Jordan was coaching Marple Newtown, which became the first baseball team in Delaware County history to win a PIAA championship.

Unfortunately, Monday’s three-hour slugfest of a reunion was left unresolved. The umpires called the game after eight innings due to darkness with the scored tied 7-7. The game could resume at a later date or be declared a tie.

Jordan received a few hearty handshakes from his former players, including Tigers seniors Alden Mathes and Kevin Merrone, who were standouts on that state championship team last spring. Even Jordan’s former ace, 2018 Daily Times Player of the Year Luke Zimmerman, was able catch the game on an off day from playing at Saint Joseph’s. Zimmerman was the walk-off hero in the state final.

Jordan resigned from his position at Marple Newtown to return to Radnor, where he had coached from 2012-16 and captured a District 1 Class AAA title. He completed his second tour of duty at MN with a 48-18 record, with Central League, District 1 and PIAA championships during a two-season run. Jordan wanted to go back to Radnor — where coaches varsity girls basketball — so that he could one day coach his son, Jack, a seventh grader in the district.

“We’re still so tight with these guys,” Jordan said of his ex-players. “So it was nice seeing some of those guys, Alden and Kevin, the state championship guys. It was fun seeing them. They were fired up, our guys were fired up.”

It appeared Jordan would get the better of his former team when senior catcher George Hoysgaard belted a solo home run off Mathes in the top of the seventh inning to give the Raiders a 7-6 lead. It was a hanging breaking pitch by Mathes that Hoysgaard crushed over the fence in left-center field.

“It felt very good off the bat,” Hoysgaard said. “… It was really exciting for the team. I thought we had (the win) there, too.”

That’s because the Tigers showed their championship pedigree with a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. Radnor erased a leadoff single by Tyler Bogan when Sal Tartaglia bunted to pitcher Owen Lewandowski, who turned and fired to Sean Mullarkey, who then threw a strike to first baseman Sunny Kwon for the 1-6-3 double play.

“It was a fun game to play in, and it’s a weird feeling to tie because you don’t know what to think,” said Mullarkey, who singled and scored twice atop the Radnor batting order.

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Radnor coach Mark Jordan greets his former Marple Newtown players (2) Kevin Merrone and (3) Alden Mathes before the start of Monday’s game. This is the first time Jordan has been back since leading the Tigers to the PIAA 5A title last year. (PETE BANNAN/MEDIANEWS GROUP)