PHILADELPHIA, PA – Sr.,
Justin Horn (Willow Grove, Pa./Upper Dublin) set a school record with five stolen bases, and
Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) homered, leading No. 23 West Chester to a 13-5 victory over Jefferson University in the first round of the Bill Giles Classic at Alumni Field on a damp and gloomy Thursday afternoon.
West Chester (15-3), which was coming off a conference record 14 stolen bases against Mansfield on Sunday, swiped 12 more against Jefferson (8-9) Thursday. The Golden Rams advanced to the championship game of the Bill Giles Classic on April 19 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. They will play the winner of Wilmington vs. USciences on April 5.
The Golden Rams scored runs in each of the first three innings, one more in the fifth, and then added tallies in each of the final three frames. West Chester finished with 13 runs on eight hits and committed one error. Jefferson posted a four-run eighth to finish with five runs on nine hits. The Rams committed five errors.
Mike Ferrara (Jamison, Pa./Archbishop Wood) led West Chester with three RBI on the day. He reached on an error in the first, but
Joe Kaleck (Southampton, Pa./Neshaminy), who would have still scored anyway, came across for the first run of the game.
Keith Flaherty (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) followed with a RBI groundout of his own to make it 2-0 before the Rams came to bat.
During a four-run second, Miles singled through the left side scoring
J.R. Gifford (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood), Horn walked with the bases loaded, Ferrara hit a sacrifice fly and Kaleck scored on a throwing error when Horn stole second. Horn picked up a RBI on an infield single in the third.
Jefferson finally got on the board with a run in the fourth, before Ferrara hit his second sacrifice fly of the game. West Chester pushed across two more in the seventh when
Zack Wright (Columbus, N.J./No. Burlington County Regional) scored on a throwing error during a double steal, and Horn scored on a wild pitch.
After Jefferson's four-run rally in the eighth,
Gaetan Grandelli (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) singled up the middle.
Ryan Nutley (Logan Twp., N.J./Gloucester Catholic) scored on an error. Miles then hit a two-run homer to left.
Left-hander
Braeden Fausnaught (Danville, Pa./Danville) started and threw the first six innings, scattering four hits and allowing just one unearned run. He improved to 4-0 on the year while striking out six. He also walked one batter.
Horn finished the day 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI, a pair of runs scored and a pair of walks. Ferrara knocked in three runs and stole a base. Miles was 2-for-5 with his first home run of the season. Wright stole three bags and scored three runs.
West Chester returns to action on Tuesday at Wilmington for a single, nine-inning game at 3 p.m.
