West Chester vs Wilmington
Game Details: March 12 I 3 P.M.
Location: Serpico Stadium (West Chester, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
Series: 29-20-1 (4-1 in last five)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
WILMU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester completed another 3-1 weekend this week, posting a sweep of Pace (7-1, 18-7) before splitting with Mercy (6-5, 6-10) on Saturday to wrap up its weekend at 9-3 on the year. West Chester got a pair of outstanding pitching performances from Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) and Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) on Friday and Saturday as they both improved to 3-0 on the season in three starts. Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) and Austin Stalker (Wyncombe, Pa./Council Rock North) were red hot at the plate over the weekend, going 9-for-15 and 5-for-150 at the dish with four extra-base hits each. Welsch scored four runs and drove in four more, including an early-game home run, while Stalker led the team in RBI with seven, while also leading in runs scored with five, after hitting two home runs along with a double and a triple. Anthony Boccio (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) made his 2025 debut on Saturday, going 2-for-7 (.286) at the plate with a pair of RBIs, including an RBI triple in the first inning of game two against Mercy.
Flock Talk
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway) is first on the team in batting average at .400 (18-for-45) on the year with four doubles, two triples, and one home run to his credit. West Chester has six of its nine “everyday” starters through the first 12 games batting north of .300 on the year. Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) is batting .394 on the year, while Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) leads the team in runs scored with 13, batting .341 on the year, while also driving in eight runs. Austin Stalker (Wyncombe, Pa./Council Rock North) is just behind him, batting a solid .313 with a team-best 13 RBI, including three home runs, which is tied with John Dunion (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) for first on the team.
On the mound, Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) and Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) have emerged as two premiere starting arms for West Chester this season as they are both 3-0 with ERAs sub-1.00. Lazer shows a 0.53 ERA with a .217 batting average against him and a team-best 23 strikeouts in 17 innings of work. Costa already has two complete games to his name this season, including his no-hitter against STAC, which earned him NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honors. Costa shows a 0.95 ERA and a WHIP of 0.53, while also posting a .127 batting average against with 22 strikeouts in 19 innings of work. Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) has been excellent out of the ‘pen for West Chester early this season, logging 5.2 scoreless innings in relief over the course of four appearances. Taney has allowed just two hits but has yielded eight walks, while striking out seven to post a WHIP of 1.76 and .118 batting average against to start his Golden Ram career.
We Are Honored
Lazer earned PSAC East Pitcher of the Week honors for his 14 strikeouts in the game one victory over Mercy on Saturday. This marks the second week in a row in which West Chester has earned PSAC East Pitcher of the Week plaudits, as Julian Costa was honored in this same manner a week ago after throwing a no-hitter against St. Thomas Aquinas in Cary, North Carolina.
Home Sweet Home
Wednesday is the Golden Rams' first home game of the 2025 season. After spending the first 12 games away from home, the team will play at Serpico Stadium for each of its next seven, including a four-game weekend series vs Queens (N.Y.) this weekend.
Power Surge
West Chester has outscored its opponents 108-44 through the season's first three weekends. West Chester opened its season outscoring Charleston 34-10 in Virginia before outscoring teams in North Carolina by a 37-11 margin, and teams in New York by a 37-23 margin.
Rank and File
West Chester remained seventh in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll released on Tuesday morning.
Time to Prepare
With Lock Haven’s move to the PSAC West, West Chester will not open PSAC East play until the weekend of March 21-22 against East Stroudsburg. West Chester will start off at home against ESU on Friday, March 21, before visiting the Warriors on Saturday, the 22nd. Prior to this, West Chester will play five non-league games this week, beginning with the Wednesday afternoon matchup against Wilmington.
Series History
West Chester holds a 29-20-1 lead in the all-time series vs Wilmington, including wins in four of the last five meetings. West Chester and Wilmington met last April in Delaware in the Bill Giles Semifinals, and West Chester used a three-run ninth to hold off a late-game Wildcat rally and leave Delaware with a 10-9 victory. Wilmington last visited Serpico Stadium in late March of 2023, when the Golden Rams posted a 12-5 win over the Wildcats.
Scouting Wilmington
Wilmington (6-5) enters play after a 2-1 weekend in Cary, North Carolina, including a 7-0 triumph over Saint Anselm on Sunday afternoon. Wilmington spent back-to-back weekends in Cary to open the year, going 3-1 on the opening weekend with a split vs Point Park and a 13-2 win over St. Thomas Aquinas before ending the weekend with a 4-3 win over D’Youville. This past weekend, Wilmington fell to Adelphi by a 3-1 final to open the weekend before an extra-inning victory (9-8) over STAC and a 7-0 win over Saint Anselm to conclude the weekend. On Sunday, Wilmington used four pitchers to complete a shutout of Saint Anselm, led by a great five inning start from Tyler Reinert. The Wildcats allowed just five hits while striking out nine. Wilmington wasted little time opening the scoring when Tristan Schoendienst drove in a run with an RBI single and scored on a passed ball later in the first to give the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead. The Wildcats got an RBI double in the second from Brandon Grygo before tacking on two more in the third after a D’Angelo Ponce RBI double and a Nick Classie sac fly. Wilmington added two more runs in the sixth after loading the bases with two outs, pushing another across via a bases loaded walk before another RBI single from Schoendienst stretched the lead to 7-0.
Kory Pritchard and Grygo lead the team offensively early this season, ranking first and second in batting average at .481 and .356 on the season. Grygo leads the team in hits with 16 and extra-base hits with eight, including five doubles. He also has a team-best 10 runs scored and 10 RBI, although he is also tied for the team lead in strikeouts with nine.
On the mound, Xavier Cortez is 2-1 on the year in three starts, posting a 2.12 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 17 innings of work. Reinert earned his first win of the season on Sunday, and Grygo is one of a handful of two-way players for the Wildcats, going 1-1 on the year with a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings of work.
