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Non-league
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11, Souderton 8
With the outcome of non-league contests not taken into account for the postseason, the games provide an opportunity for coaches to give playing time to many more than would typically see action in a league game.
Friday’s non-league game was a revolving door for pitchers on both sides with a combined 11 players seeing action on the mound and even more on the field and at the plate.
The Colonials led 11-1 after four innings and never looked back.
“It’s always challenging to figure out how best to approach non-league games, but this week was a little more difficult for us with it being a four-game week and today’s game the second of three in a row,” PW coach Chris Manero said.
Cooper Jones started and did not allow a hit in 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out three and walking none. Jake Rauscher, who notched the win, did not allow a hit in 1.2 shutout innings. He struck out one and walked one.
The Colonials provided plenty of offensive support. They took a 1-0 lead in the first and erupted for six runs in the third to go on top 7-0. The highlight of the inning was a two-run double by Kevin Hegarty.
In the top of the fourth, Souderton’s Cody Ricko tripled to right, plating Nathan Woodbury who led off the inning with a single.
PW answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Gabe Caucci led off the inning with a single, and he scored when Johnny Giordano lofted a two-run home run to center field to put the Colonials on top 9-1. With one out, Sam Stolzer singled and Gavin Moore followed with a double. Both players scored when Hegarty grounded a single to center to put the Colonials on top 10-1. Another run scored on a steal of home.
“Coop and Jake did a real nice job of opening up for us and keeping Souderton off the board after we scored in the early innings,” Manero said. “By doing their part, they helped us to conserve some pitches, and while we used six arms today, we go into our fourth game of the week tomorrow with four or five pitchers still available if needed.”
Souderton put five runs on the board in a seventh inning highlighted by J Fallon’s two-run double to right field for the 11-8 final.
Moore (2-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R) and Hegarty (2-for-3, 2B, 3 RBIs, R) were the lone multi-hit players for the Colonials.
“We had a nice, balanced attack in our lineup today, and it looks like a few guys who maybe didn’t come out of the gate as strong as they’d like are now starting to heat up as we approach mid-season,” Manero said. “Gavin (Moore) and Kev (Hegarty) contributed a large bulk of our offense today. They are guys with big extra base hit potential every time they come to the plate, and today showed that.
“It was also nice to see Johnny (Giordano) leave the yard in a big spot today. He’s one of only a few every day bats we returned from last year’s lineup, and we rely on him for those timely and often loud hits.”
For the Indians, Woodbury was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored. Ryan Lamberth was 2-for-4 with one run scored.
On the mound, Robert Trost started and did not allow a hit in two innings but gave up one run. Ricko and Ben Divens both threw a scoreless inning in relief to close out the game.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-2, 5-0 SOL) will host Quakertown on Saturday at 11 a.m., and Souderton (2-5, 1-4) will host Harry S Truman Tuesday.
Souderton 000 111 5 8-10-3
Plymouth Whitemarsh 106 400 x 11-8-1
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