JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Making his first appearance in the postseason, sophomore
Zach Wright (BURLINGTON COUNTRY, NJ/NORTHERN BURLINGTON COUNTY REGIONAL) came through with a RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the West Chester University baseball team the 6-5 victory over California (Pa.) in the opening game of the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship on Wednesday in Johnstown.
West Chester (30-10), winners of its last eight games, advances to play the winner between Gannon and East Stroudsburg tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. while the Vulcans (35-14) will square off against the loser of the Gannon-East Stroudsburg contest tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with the unsuccessful team from that game being eliminated from the tournament.
WCU starter
Jon Fisher (PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA./PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH) was working early for the Golden Rams, as the senior struck out the side to keep the Vulcans off the board through one.
Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN), the 2019 PSAC East Athlete of the Year, got things rolling for West Chester in the bottom of the first with a RBI single to put the Golden Rams in front, 1-0.
California was finally able to catch up with Fisher over the next few innings and a RBI single by Nico Marchetti in the third followed by a RBI triple by Jacob McCaskey in the fourth put the Vulcans in front 2-1 entering the fifth frame.
Following a hitless fifth by California,
Jon Hansen (CHERRY HILL, N.J./GEORGE MASON) led off the home half with a double and
Kyle Feaster (TROOPER, PA./METHACTION) went on to walk to give WCU two on with one out. A fielder's choice by
Justin Horn (WILLOW GROVE, PA./UPPER DUBLIN) would advance Hansen to third prior to Melone coming to the plate and smashing a three-run home run to left center to put West Chester ahead 4-2 through five. Melone's home run, his 28th of his career, puts the senior just four homers back from tying Mark Gilliford's program record (32) and his four RBI on the day pushes Melone past Blair Dameron for third on the WCU's all-time career RBI list with 163.
A RBI single by Ben Maudie in the seventh brought the Vulcans within one (4-3) prior to
Corey Webb (EASTON, PA./EASTON) singling in Melone in the eighth to give the Golden Rams their 2-run cushion back entering the ninth.
California erased that deficit in the top of the ninth, as Corey Fogle tripled in McCaskey before being brought home with a sacrifice fly by Maudie to square the game at 5-5.
Wright led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and then advanced to second after a walk by Feaster. Horn came through with another sacrifice to advance the runners and give the Golden Rams runners on second and third with just one out. Melone was intentionally walked to load the bases, but West Chester would be unable to bring any of the runners in following a strike out and a pop up.
Tim Edwards (HERSHEY, PA./HERSHEY) came in to pitch in the 10th and the senior proved too much for the bottom of Cal U's order. Edwards led off the frame by striking out the first two batters he faced, and following a walk to Fogle, Edwards struck out Anthony Venezia on three pitches to keep the score knotted at 5-5 heading into the home half of the stanza.
Pinch hitter
Joey Coyle (WILMINGTON, DEL./SALESIANUM) was hit by a pitch to kick off the bottom of the tenth and then advanced to second on a sacrifice by Webb. Hansen followed by reaching on an error to set up Wright for his big moment. Facing a 2-2 count, Wright singled through the right side to score Coyle from third to give the Golden Rams the 6-5 victory in extra innings.
As expected, Melone was the difference maker in Wednesday's contest, as the third baseman went 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, a homer and two walks. Wright chipped in three hits – including the game winner – and one RBI, while Webb went 1-for-4 with a RBI in the win.
Fisher got the start and struck out a season-high nine batters in 6.2 innings of work to lead a West Chester rotation that fanned 13 batters overall. Edwards (4-1) got the win in Wednesday's opener after allowing no hits and no runs with three strikeouts in the tenth frame.
For the Vulcans, Maudie logged two RBI and McCaskey contributed two hits, a run and one RBI in the losing effort. Cal U starter Nick Riggle allowed five runs (five earned) with four strikeouts in the no-decision, while reliever Hunter Robinson (0-2) was saddled with this loss after allowing the game-winning single in the tenth.
