Phoenixville Area School District | Archive | April, 2016

COURTESY OF BARRY SANKEY

http://papreplive.com/blog/2016/04/08/phoenixville-cedes-lead-edges-pottsgrove-9-7-in-10-innings/

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> Phoenixville had regrets. Seeing a 6-0 lead disappear will do that.

But after watching Pottsgrove’s baseball team plate six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning – highlighted by Mike Gantert’s grand slam – Friday afternoon to knot the score and ultimately send the Pioneer Athletic Conference game into extra innings, the Phantoms then scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning to come away with a 9-7 victory over the Falcons.

Kevin Cushing (six innings), Morgan Bennyhoff (three) and Zack Masalski combined on the pitching victory for Phoenixville (2-2 PAC-10, 2-4 overall). The Phantoms took their early lead with the help of a four-run outburst in the third inning. Nick Opalkowski, Cushing and Matt Palubinsky (triple) helped trigger the offense for the Phantoms.

“Obviously, a win is a win,” said Phoenixville first-year head coach Neil Herman. “It doesn’t matter how you win, just so you get it. We made some mistakes. We have to learn how to finish the game. We got a little comfortable, and we weren’t as intense as we needed to be.

“But give credit to Pottsgrove. They battled the whole game. This is the first year for (coach) Jamie (Nash) and they will build that program.”

In Phoenixville’s top of the 10th inning, catcher Opalkowski (two hits, two RBI) walked with one out before Cushing singled. With two down, Kyle Bennick singled to right field to plate courtesy runner Freddy Bieler with the go-ahead run. Bennyhoff followed with a two-run single through the middle for a pair of insurance runs.

In the bottom of the frame, Pottsgrove had two outs before Bailey Delp, Garrett Bleakley and starting pitcher Dean Fiorini provided three straight singles to account for one run. Alex Stump followed with another single to load the bases, but Gantert, whose grand slam over the left-field fence tied the game at 6 in the sixth inning, flied out to Bennick in right field to end the game.

“I can’t say enough about Nick Opalkowski,” said Herman. “He did a great job at the plate every time up.

“We are 2-2 right now and right in the hunt for the Final Four and district playoffs. We got the win over Methacton when Matt Osisek-Byrne pitched his **** off. That was a confidence-builder that we can play with anybody in the league.”

Cushing was in complete control of the Falcons through the first five innings, allowing just three hits and no runs before Pottsgrove batted around in the sixth to tie it. Gantert got a ball up into the wind with the bases loaded and two outs, and the wind helped carry it out of the ballpark for the homer. Cushing had six strikeouts and no walks. Bennyhoff pitched three innings and gave up one hit and no runs with four strikeouts. Masalski came on to pitch the final inning.

Fiorini and Alex Stump each pitched five innings for the Falcons.

“I was extremely unhappy with our first five innings,” said Nash. “We were very mentally poor. But I was extremely happy and extremely proud of the way we battled back. We have an inexperienced team, and it is a big learning curve. At this point we have to learn how to win.

“I told Gantert when he came up he was the right man in the right spot. He is a great kid. He is a captain and gives up great leadership. I have great confidence in him as a leader.”

Bailey Delp and Garrett Bleakley each had three hits for the Falcons while Fiorini had two hits. Max Stump and Alex Stump each chipped in with an RBI.

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COURTESY OF Sam Stewart – Digital First Media

PHOENIXVILLE >> Phoenixville just could not figure out the puzzle that was Pope John Paul II pitcher Ashley Remmington.

Off-balance swings, chasing pitches and not controlling the count yielded five frustrating frames that had the Phantoms dangerously close to another PAC loss.

In the sixth, however, the Phantoms finally broke through.

Susan Duncan accounted for the game-tying RBI while the Phantoms added two more insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning to secure a 3-1 victory over visiting Pope John Paul II Tuesday afternoon.

“We weren’t helping ourself at all,” Phoenixville head coach Jennie Anderson said. “Our plate discipline was not good throughout the first five innings. We were going up with the count 0-0 and we were swinging at balls high. 

“It was frustrating but we kept at it and made some adjustments. (Remmington) was throwing a lot of outside curveballs so we tried to take it to right field more often and change our batting style.”

Needless to say, the adjustments worked.

Duncan’s RBI single in the sixth that scored Lainey Michaud served as a dose of instant healing for a team that had collected two hits in the first five frames and had stranded a runner at third in the first three innings.

Hitting and discipline became infectious as the Phantoms scratched two more runs across the board via a Katie Rutledge hit by pitch (scoring Jamie Deni) and a wild pitch that scored Duncan a batter later. The three-spot in the sixth was enough to garner the Phantoms their first PAC-10 victory of the young season, and overshadow a budding pitcher’s duel between Remmington and Phoenixville’s Jess Eldridge. 

Duncan finished the game 3-for-3 from the plate. Kelly Knapp and Michaud also collected a hit, Michaud’s double in the sixth helping spark the Phantoms’ tide-turning inning. 

“We just had one or two hits and then everyone started to get behind it,” Eldridge said.

“The snowball effect,” Duncan added. “I just wanted to get the ball in play and get the runs over and get on base.”

“It’s one inning that we tend to make a couple of errors and we pile them on each other,” PJP head coach Amanda Knight said. “But I told them, they win that inning it’s a different game.”

Remmington, backed by the early run support that came via an Amanda Butera triple that scored Gabby Simms in the first, showed flashes of brilliance in her first start of the season. The righthander kept the Phantoms’ hitters off balance through the first five innings, working in her curveball and devastating change-up to get six batters down via strikeout while allowing two hits in the first five frames. 

“Ashley is a great pitcher, I’ve always been able to use her,” Knight said. “She’s confident this year so it’s really helping her on the mound.”

Eldrige was not to be outmatched, however. 

Settling in after her bumpy first inning, the righthander turned on cruise control, allowing three hits the rest of the way while registering six strikeouts in the final six innings. Eldridge finished with eight strikeouts and improved her ERA to 1.75, good for fourth in the PAC-10.

“Jess has really become a top-notch pitcher for us,” Anderson said. “From freshman year to now, she’s improved vastly. It’ great to see. At the beginning, their (PJP) top 3 was hitting the ball real well and then Butera hit that long one. But she settled in and that’s what she had to do. One thing about her is that she doesn’t let anything get to her. She just goes with it. That’s a good quality for a pitcher to have.”

“Something always seems to happen in the first inning and then I start to settle down,” Eldridge said. “I just have to eliminate that (going forward).”

NOTES >> Simms led PJP with two hits in the loss. … Phoenixville left seven runners on base to PJP’s five.

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COURTESY OF Sam Stewart – Digital First Media

PHOENIXVILLE >> Phoenixville just could not figure out the puzzle that was Pope John Paul II pitcher Ashley Remmington.

Off-balance swings, chasing pitches and not controlling the count yielded five frustrating frames that had the Phantoms dangerously close to another PAC loss.

In the sixth, however, the Phantoms finally broke through.

Susan Duncan accounted for the game-tying RBI while the Phantoms added two more insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning to secure a 3-1 victory over visiting Pope John Paul II Tuesday afternoon.

“We weren’t helping ourself at all,” Phoenixville head coach Jennie Anderson said. “Our plate discipline was not good throughout the first five innings. We were going up with the count 0-0 and we were swinging at balls high. 

“It was frustrating but we kept at it and made some adjustments. (Remmington) was throwing a lot of outside curveballs so we tried to take it to right field more often and change our batting style.”

Needless to say, the adjustments worked.

Duncan’s RBI single in the sixth that scored Lainey Michaud served as a dose of instant healing for a team that had collected two hits in the first five frames and had stranded a runner at third in the first three innings.

Hitting and discipline became infectious as the Phantoms scratched two more runs across the board via a Katie Rutledge hit by pitch (scoring Jamie Deni) and a wild pitch that scored Duncan a batter later. The three-spot in the sixth was enough to garner the Phantoms their first PAC-10 victory of the young season, and overshadow a budding pitcher’s duel between Remmington and Phoenixville’s Jess Eldridge. 

Duncan finished the game 3-for-3 from the plate. Kelly Knapp and Michaud also collected a hit, Michaud’s double in the sixth helping spark the Phantoms’ tide-turning inning. 

“We just had one or two hits and then everyone started to get behind it,” Eldridge said.

“The snowball effect,” Duncan added. “I just wanted to get the ball in play and get the runs over and get on base.”

“It’s one inning that we tend to make a couple of errors and we pile them on each other,” PJP head coach Amanda Knight said. “But I told them, they win that inning it’s a different game.”

Remmington, backed by the early run support that came via an Amanda Butera triple that scored Gabby Simms in the first, showed flashes of brilliance in her first start of the season. The righthander kept the Phantoms’ hitters off balance through the first five innings, working in her curveball and devastating change-up to get six batters down via strikeout while allowing two hits in the first five frames. 

“Ashley is a great pitcher, I’ve always been able to use her,” Knight said. “She’s confident this year so it’s really helping her on the mound.”

Eldrige was not to be outmatched, however. 

Settling in after her bumpy first inning, the righthander turned on cruise control, allowing three hits the rest of the way while registering six strikeouts in the final six innings. Eldridge finished with eight strikeouts and improved her ERA to 1.75, good for fourth in the PAC-10.

“Jess has really become a top-notch pitcher for us,” Anderson said. “From freshman year to now, she’s improved vastly. It’ great to see. At the beginning, their (PJP) top 3 was hitting the ball real well and then Butera hit that long one. But she settled in and that’s what she had to do. One thing about her is that she doesn’t let anything get to her. She just goes with it. That’s a good quality for a pitcher to have.”

“Something always seems to happen in the first inning and then I start to settle down,” Eldridge said. “I just have to eliminate that (going forward).”

NOTES >> Simms led PJP with two hits in the loss. … Phoenixville left seven runners on base to PJP’s five.

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