LOCK HAVEN, PA –
Joe Sperone (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) tossed a complete-game one-hitter in the opener, and West Chester rode a 7-run fourth inning to a win in the nightcap of a regular-season finale baseball doubleheader sweep over host Lock Haven Saturday afternoon at Watkins Field.
West Chester (20-10, 20-10 PSAC East) finishes in second place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division and earns the second seed out of the East in the upcoming postseason tournament. Lock Haven (7-21, 7-21) saw its 2021 campaign come to a close.
The Golden Rams captured game one, 4-3, on the strength of Sperone's right arm. He really only made one mistake all afternoon – a 3-run homer by Garrett Nepert in the fifth inning. That blast momentarily put Lock Haven in front, 3-2. However,
J.R. Gifford (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and
Keith Flaherty (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the seventh that allowed the eventual game-winning run to score.
That was all Sperone (3-0) needed. He struck out seven batters and only walked two to pick up his third win of the year.
Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn), a red-shirt freshman transfer from Lehigh, got the start at second base Saturday and responded with a 3-for-4 day, including a RBI double in the second inning that put the Golden Rams on top, 1-0, early. Gifford hit a run-scoring single in the fourth to double the lead, before Nepert's home run briefly erased that.
In the nightcap, freshman righty
Andrew Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) tossed another complete game to improve to 4-1 on the year. West Chester hit three home runs to back Cantwell on the hill. Flaherty hit his sixth homer of the year, a two-run shot in the second, to put the Golden Rams out in front. The Bald Eagles responded with a 3-run third to take the lead.
However, West Chester once again got the bats going right away after losing the lead to squash any momentum by LHU.
Dennis Pierce (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) hit a two-run homer in the fourth to spark that 7-run rally. It was his third home run of the season in just eight at bats.
Justin Horn (Willow Grove, Pa./Upper Dublin) kept the bats going with a two-run double in the fourth.
Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) provided some offensive support for his little brother in the fourth with a RBI single, Miles hit a sacrifice fly and two more unearned runs scored on an error by Lock Haven's third baseman.
West Chester tacked on two more in the fifth to open up a 11-3 lead. Lock Haven responded with two in the bottom half of the fifth and then three in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally fell short there.
Pierce finished the game 3-for-3 with the homer.
Zack Wright (Burlington, N.J./No. Burlington Cty) went 3-for-5 with his sixth home run of the season. Flaherty was 2-for-4.
West Chester earned the right to host a PSAC Quarterfinal as a result of its second-place finish in the standings. The Golden Rams will host Bloomsburg on Wednesday, May 12 at Maple Zone Sports Complex at 12 p.m.
