Smith dominates on mound and at the plate as W.C. East blanks Great Valley

WEST GOSHEN >> On a bitterly cold Tuesday afternoon, no one was hotter than West Chester East pitcher Adam Smith, on the mound and at the plate.

Smith struck out 10 Great Valley batters, while allowing just two singles, walked only two Patriots and stroked two hits of his own in the Vikings’ 2-0 Ches-Mont League victory.

“I felt loose even though it was real cold, because I do the Right Drive program with the coaches that uses weighted baseballs, and I was loose from the beginning of the game,” Smith said. “I used a lot of fastballs, some sliders and a lot of curveballs in the game today. I felt real good getting those two hits. I live and die to hit the baseball. I really like to hit more than I like to pitch.”

West Chester East (4-3) got things going in the bottom of the third inning off Great Valley (3-5) starter, sophomore Chris Angelo.

Smith led off with a sharp single to right field and went to second when the Patriots threw the ball past second on the throw from the outfield. Jackson Berman stroked an RBI single to put West Chester East up 1-0, and that was all Smith would need in his brilliant performance.

Great Valley got two men on in the top of the second against Smith via walks, but Smith struck out Dean Sioutis with two men on, and that would be the last Great Valley rally until the top of the sixth. Smith continued to sail along, as he struck out the Patriots’ three batters in the fifth inning on just 12 pitches.

But Smith and the Vikings gave themselves a little cushion in the bottom of the fifth inning. Marcus Gerald led off with a walk and Smith, again, stroked a single to put two men on with no outs against Great Valley reliever Sean Gowen.

Berman moved the runners up with a nice sacrifice bunt and Tim Becker singled in Gerald with a sharp single to center for a 2-0 lead that seemed insurmountable with the way Smith was dealing.

But Great Valley did not go away easily. The Patriots rallied in the top the sixth inning when Ryan Giandonato hit a hard grounder into left to put a man on first with one out. Connor Malloy then singled to put men on first and second with one out. Malloy had both Great Valley singles on the game.

The Patriots had their two best hitters coming up against Smith in Brendan O’Donnell and Pete Giambetti, but Smith did not blink. He struck out both hitters and the Vikings had a 2-0 lead heading to the seventh.

“Smith pitched a fantastic game for them,” Great Valley coach Matt Schultz said. “Our pitchers did a real nice job for us today but our offense came up a little short against a real good pitcher.”

“Adam has been lights out for us this year, in fact the last two years,” West Chester East coach Scott Kelley said. “He is going to to play his college ball at the University of North Carolina Greensboro as a position player, but I think when they see how he can pitch they may use him there also. He is just a great player.”