Plymouth Whitemarsh defeated Downingtown East in Thursday’s District 1 6A third place game.
Class 6A Playback Game – Third Place
#1-6 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 5, #1-5 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 3
The Colonials saved their best for last, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead and a win in Thursday’s third place game.
Although there really wasn’t a whole lot at stake, coach Chris Manero was not discounting the significance of his team’s come-from-behind win.
“I don’t think either of us wanted to be there – we would have preferred to be at Immaculata (playing in the district title game),” the PW coach said. “But after losing our last game, to win a game going into states was important.
“From that angle, it was a game that we wanted to get back on the right track.”
The win came on the heels of a 3-1 loss to Neshaminy in Tuesday’s district semifinal.
“We found ourselves in a very similar situation, and we got to finish this game the way we didn’t finish the last game,” Manero said. “It’s important for our hitter’s confidence, it builds off of some things we directly worked on in practice yesterday in terms of driving in runs.
“I think it was a little bit of reassurance for our guys as we head into next week.”
In PW’s three-run seventh, Richie Werner led off with a single, and Kevin Reilly had an RBI single. Jacob Nunez also singled, but the Colonials also benefitted two walks and a hit batter.
On the mound, Zach Chandler gave the Colonials 4.2 solid innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out one and walking one.
“Zach Chandler going into the season was our number three starter, but the way the schedule worked out and the way our starters did this year, we really hardly ever needed a number three starter,” Manero said. “Zach’s a senior who’s just an outstanding teammate and has done everything we could ask in the last four years, and I think it was really nice for him to go out today and get a playoff start and pitch four-and-two-thirds innings of really good baseball.”
Brett Bottinger, the Colonials’ number two starter, closed in out with 2.1 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit while striking out three and walking two.
“We didn’t want to make him unavailable for Monday in case we needed him, so we asked him to play a little bit of a different role today,” Manero said. “He came in out of the bullpen and was outstanding for two-and-a-third innings.
“I thought those two guys – one really stepping up in a big situation as a senior and the other one coming into a different role than he’s used to – it was really good to see.”
Defensively, the Colonials turned three double plays behind Chandler and Bottinger.
“Two of them were 5-4-3s to end an inning and the last one ended the game on a line drive to second base,” Manero said. “Our infield defense which has carried us all year was really good.”
Reilly’s 2-for-4 effort at the plate included an RBI and led the Colonials’ eight-hit attack.
“Dalton Carlisle, who doesn’t start very much and hasn’t had a lot of at-bats the last couple of weeks, came off the bench and got a big RBI to get us within a run,” Manero said of Carlisle’s RBI single in the sixth that made it a 3-2 game. “We tell our guys to always be ready. He hasn’t had a lot of at-bats lately, but he had a big one today. You never know when we’re going to need these guys in the playoffs, so that was good to see.
“We had a couple of big doubles (from Joe Jaconski and Anthony Tomassetti). Kevin Reilly stayed really hot, which has been great. Every part of the lineup had guys come up and do good things for us, especially in the later part of the game.”
The PW/Downingtown East game was one of a handful of games played Thursday.
“Both schools working together to push this game up to one o’clock was a great move because nobody else played today,” Manero said. “We got that game in at one, and about 10 minutes after the game was over it started pouring. We wanted to play today. We wanted to have as many days off before Monday as possible.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (15-8, 11-3 SOL) will face the winner of Friday’s District XI title game between Liberty and Emmaus in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA 6A state tournament.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 000 011 3 5-8-2
Downingtown West 000 030 0 3-7-1
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