By Nick DeLorenzo
After getting off to a sluggish start to the season with losses against Council Rock North and Neshaminy, Council Rock South has gotten back on the right track with a pair of wins this week, including a 7-3 victory Thursday afternoon over Abington.
Led by a strong performance from starting pitcher Ryan Downs, the win brings the Golden Eagles to 2-2 in the SOL National.
“I think we dug ourselves out of a hole, and now we’re going on a winning streak,” Downs said.
The game didn’t start the way Downs had planned, however. In the first inning, after Kyle Dougherty walked and stole second base, Justin Emrich roped an RBI single to center to put Abington up 1-0.
Downs settled down from there, striking out the next batter to end the threat – one of seven batters Downs struck out in the first three innings.
“My arm was feeling good, and I was just trying to throw strikes,” Downs said.
After being blanked by Abington freshman hurler Jake Ferrante in the first two innings, South got its offense going in the third inning - sparked by a perfectly executed hit-and-run by leadoff hitter Bill Fleming and base runner Brian Donnelly. Jeff Miller notched a bases-loaded single that scored two, and Downs helped himself with an RBI single to put Rock South up 3-1.
The Golden Eagles continued their clutch hitting in the fourth inning when Bret DeStefano hit a two-out, two-run single to extend the lead to 5-1
Downs found himself in trouble in the fifth inning after allowing a walk and a double, but managed to work his way out of two-on, no-out jam, allowing just one run. Donnelly answered in the bottom of the inning with a two-run single, and South entered the sixth inning up 7-2.
Downs started the sixth, but after loading the bases, head coach Greg Young called in Jeff Miller, who escaped the mess allowing just one run by forcing a double play and a lineout to second. Miller came back out for the seventh inning to close out the game.
Young praised the work of his pitchers and the poise they showed on the mound.
“[Downs and Miller] competed real well,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “Ryan (Downs) was very gutty. He threw the ball pretty hard, especially for this early in the season. The ball moves real well. He’s tough.”
Downs finished with nine strikeouts in five innings of work, allowing three runs and only four hits.
DeStefano lead the offense with two hits in four at bats, knocking in two and scoring a run. Donnelly also made a big difference from the nine-hole, going 1-for-1 with a single, two walks, two steals, and two runs scored.
Clean-up hitter Emrich finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for Abington. Tony Cairone had the only other RBI for the Ghosts.
While Ferrante took the loss, he did look impressive at times – striking out six in four and a third innings. His performance did not go unnoticed by Young, who sees a very bright future for the freshman.
“You’ve got to give [Ferrante] credit,” Young said. “He threw really well and is going to be really good. He’s got a decent fastball and locates it well, and he’s got a pretty good second pitch – it’ll keep you off balance.
Even with South’s recent success at the plate (they scored 11 runs against Bensalem on Tuesday,) Downs doesn’t think the Golden Hawks’ lineup has reached its full potential just yet.
“I think there’s a little room to improve with our bats, but I think we’ll get there,” Downs said. “We’ll work hard, keep swinging and being aggressive.”
“It’s still early,” Young added. “We’ve got some young kids in our lineup. We’ll get there offensively.”
Young knows that sometimes it takes a few games early in the season for a team to begin working on all cylinders again and is excited to see what his team has in store now that they’ve got a few wins under their belt.
“We’re on the right track,” Young said. “We just need to continue to work hard at practice and continue to get better – do the right things and do the little things – and we’ll be OK.”
COUNCIL ROCK 7, ABINGTON 3
Abington 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 runs 4 hits 2 errors 5 LOB
Council Rock South – 0 0 3 2 2 0 x 7 run 9 hits 1 error 8 LOB
Council Rock South – 0 0 3 2 2 0 x 7 run 9 hits 1 error 8 LOB
WP: Downs
LP: Ferrante
Save: Miller
LP: Ferrante
Save: Miller
2B – Pitkow (AB), Cochran (CR-S)
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