OJR blanks Norristown, looks ahead to bigger games
By DENNIS C. WAY
21st Century Media
WEST NORRITON->>Owen J. Roberts baseball coach Greg Gilbert knows his Wildcats will have some rather big fish to fry this season if they’re going to challenge for a Pioneer Athletic Conference title.
But in the meantime, they’ll be content with some of the PAC’s minnows, one of which is Norristown, which the Wildcats blanked, 11-0, in a five-inning walkover Wednesday at Norristown HJigh.
OJR, shut out in the first inning, scored in every inning afterwards, then got the game-winners with a three-run fifth, which was highlighted by catcher Brian Siket’s three-run double.
No, it wasn’t a win over Boyertown or Spring-Ford, but in order for those games to mean something down the line, the Wildcats know they’re going to have to keep beating the Norristowns and Upper Perkiomens in league play.
“Sure, we want to be able to contend with Boyertown and Spring-Ford and the rest of the league,” Gilbert said after the by-the-numbers win. “But right now we’re just looking to win the games we need to win, so that those games against Boyertown or Spring-Ford or Perkiomen Valley mean something later in the year.
“This was a good start to our league schedule, but we know we’re going to have to play better down the line when we get our shots at Boyertown and Spring-Ford and Perk Valley, and even Methacton.”
The Wildcats got a runner thrown out at the plate to end a scoreless first, but wouldn’t be blanked again, as they scored four times in the second, in an inning sparked by Bobby Walker’s two-run single and then added two runs each in both the third and fourth innings before Siket’s double, for all intents and purposes, won the game in the top of the fifth.
Norristown managed just two hits off the pitching tandem of Dan Stofko and Calvin Endy, but Eagles rookie head coach Jack Sturgeon, once the head man at Phoenixville, is not looking for Norristown to contend either this year or next.
“Really, 90 percent of our players haven’t played varsity baseball before,” Sturgeon said. “We only have four seniors. The bulk of the team is sophomores and freshmen, so we’re looking down the line.
“Our kids aren’t used to the intensity you see in the PAC almost every game. That’s something they’re going to have to learn as they go along.”
After the four-run second, the Wildcats kept adding on, eventually tacking on two runs each in both the third and fourth innings, then using Siket’s bases-clearing double for the coup de grace in the fifth.
“There’s tough competition throughout our league, and any opportunity you get to win a baseball game you have to take advantage of,” Siket said. “We’re going to try and use our speed a lot this year.
“That’s one of our strengths, so we have to use that if we’re going to beat the Boyertowns and Spring-Fords. And that’s one of the things we want to do.”
Those opportunities are still a ways down the road.
For the moment, the Wildcats will stay within striking distance by topping the PAC’s lesser likes, then take their chances against the circuit’s best.
“All we can do now is be fundamentally sound,” Gilbert said. “If we come out and play hard and give our best effort, that’s all we can ask for.”
OWEN J. ROBERTS 11, NORRISTOWN 0
OJR 042 23 – 11
NHS 000 00 – 0
2B – Leven good; Siket
SB – Fisher, Ferrara 2; Levengood.
WP – Dan Stofko
LP – Nick Edling
