WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The No. 7/10 West Chester baseball team (10-3) opened its home slate with a 9-1 victory over Wilmington (6-6) on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon at Serpico Stadium.
West Chester stormed out to an early 3-0 lead through the first three innings and never wavered, stretching its lead to as many as nine heading into the eighth inning after plating four runs on three hits in a big seventh inning.
Anthony Boccio (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) gave West Chester an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the home half of the first before
Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) doubled the lead in the second with a double to center, which plated
Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove).
West Chester added a run in the third with a well-executed double steal as Boccio swiped home to make it 3-0.
Spencer singled home a pair of runs in the fifth to stretch the lead to 5-0 before the Golden Rams exploded for four runs in the seventh to take a commanding 9-0 lead.
In the seventh,
Austin Stalker (Wyncombe, Pa./Council Rock North) started the scoring with an RBI single to left before Spencer found his way home via a wild pitch, which gave Wes Chester runners on second and third with just one out. This proved important as it allowed a
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) double to score a pair and give the Golden Rams a 9-0 lead.
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) (2-0) got the start and pitched well through six innings, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out five in his second season victory.
Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) pitched a scoreless inning in relief, allowing one walk and striking out another before
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) entered in relief for the eighth inning.
In the eighth against Jones, Wilmington managed to score its lone run of the game via an RBI single to center before the duo of
Evan Wineburg (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and
Gannon Kadlecik (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) teamed up in the ninth to navigate a bases-loaded jam and finish off the 9-1 victory.
Spencer was 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBI and a pair of runs, while
Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored.
Scott Borgmann suffered the loss for Wilmington, allowing one run in the first inning. Steve Schenning had the longest outing of any Wildcat pitcher in the loss,
allowing four runs on six hits and a walk over 3.2 innings before exiting in favor of Zach Czarnecki late in the fifth inning.
Up Next
West Chester will continue its homestand this weekend with a four-game set vs Queens, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m.
