Pottsgrove’s dramatics continue with 10-inning win over Phoenixville

PHOENIXVILLE >> Pound the zone.

That’s what Pottsgrove pitcher Ethan McMonagle’s mindset was as he went out on the mound in the top of the 10th inning against Phoenixville on Friday.

After just having picked up the potential game-winning hit in the top of the inning, McMonagle needed to record three outs to secure a signature Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division win for the Falcons. If that wasn’t enough, it was the first time he had pitched in four weeks.

His simple approach was successful, putting down the Phantoms in order to wrap up Pottsgrove’s 5-2 win in 10 innings. The Falcons handed Phoenixville its first PAC loss this season and its first Frontier loss in two years.

“I just love the intensity, love winning games,” McMonagle said. “That’s what we want to be about this year.”

Both teams scored their runs early on Friday when the rain was really coming down. Pottsgrove (4-0 Frontier, 5-2 PAC) went up 2-0 with runs in the first and second inning before Phoenixville (5-1 Frontier, 7-1 PAC) plated two in the bottom of the second inning, including a solo homer from Ethan O’Donnell.

A circus catch from Pottsgrove outfielder Jack Sibley at the warning track helped keep two runs off the board in the third inning, and the score stayed tied, 2-2, before McMonagle came up in the 10th inning. With runners on second and third, McMonagle singled to right field to drive in Joe Silvestri, who led off the inning with a double. Garrett Heft, who knocked in the game-winning run against Upper Merion on Wednesday, followed with a single to left to drive in two more runs.

The Falcons have been no stranger to drama-filled contests this season. Coming into Friday, three of their four Frontier victories had been by one run.

Pottsgrove knocked off Pope John Paul II, 5-4, March 29 on a walk-off single by Ethan Edelson in the eighth inning. Edelson tossed a shutout against Upper Perkiomen on April 3 for a 1-0 victory, which the Falcons won on a walk-off walk. The Falcons defeated Upper Merion, 2-1, in eight innings.

“It’s a grind,” McMonagle said. “You just have to keep pushing through it. We’ve been in close games all year, and we were able to just push one through.”

Pottsgrove senior Cameron Mowery, who tossed five innings of shutout relief Friday, said watching the Phantoms, who were undefeated in Frontier contests a season ago, reach the PAC championship last season gave the Falcons some confidence heading into this year. The two teams have played some tight contests over the last few seasons, and Mowery and his teammates felt they weren’t that far off from competing for a division title.

The Pottsgrove bench had high energy throughout Friday’s contest. That was amplified after the conclusion of the junior varsity game when some of those players joined both benches.

“It’s a big deal to us, especially in 10 innings, the rain and everything,” Mowery said. “We wanted to leave with a win.”

Three days after picking up the win against Perkiomen Valley on Monday, Phoenixville senior Luke Bagley took the ball for the Phantoms. He was opposed by Silvestri for Pottsgrove. Silvestri gave up two runs in four innings, while Bagley allowed two runs in five innings. Noah August did not allow a run in three innings out of the bullpen for Phoenixville.

“He’s a bulldog,” Phoenixville coach Dave Cimina said of Bagley. “He’s a gamer.”

At the moment, Phoenixville and Pottsgrove have separated themselves at the top of the Frontier. There might be a little more on the line when they face each other again May 8. At the moment the contest is Phoenixville’s last scheduled league game, while the Falcons face Pope John Paul II the next day.

There are still plenty of games until then though, and a lot could change in the PAC pecking order. That was evident in Cimina’s message to his team after Friday’s game.

“I just told them to relax,” Cimina said. “We weren’t going to go undefeated. I just said, ‘Think about this.’ We’ll come back tomorrow, and we’ll talk more about it to tomorrow. I didn’t want to get into anything negative after the game. I just wanted them to relax.”

POTTSGROVE 5
PHOENIXVILLE 2

POTTSGROVE                PHOENIXVILLE

                     ab   r  h bi                       ab   r  h bi

Sibley            4  1   1  0    August         4  0  0  0

Fiore              5  0   1  0    Shoemaker  5  0  1  0

EMcMngle     4  2   2  1    Clark            3  0  0  0

Heft                5  0   2  3    Greenwlt       0  0  0  0

White             5  0   0  0    Goryl            5  0  1  0

Edelson         5  1   2  0    ODonnell      5  1  1  1

Templin         3  0   0  0    Blakey         3  0  0  0

GMcMongle   3  0   1  0    Crammer      3  1  1  0

Silvestri         4  1   1  1    Fink              4  0  2  1

Mowery          1  0   0  0    Geiger          2  0  0  0

                                        Stamato       1  0  0  0

Totals          39  5 10  5    Totals         35  2   6 2

Pottsgrove                        110 000 000 3 — 5
Phoenixville                      020 000 000 0— 2

E — Pottsgrove 3; 2B: Heft, Silvestri, Fink; 3B: Fiore, Crammer; HR: O’Donnell.

                                   IP     H    R   ER   BB  SO

Pottsgrove

Silvestri                       4     5     2      2      3     3

Mowery (W)                  5     1     0      0      2     5

McMonagle                  1     0     0      0      0     1

Phoenixville

Bagley                         5     5     2      2      2     3

August                         3     1     0      0      0     1

Trianosky (L)                2     4     3      3      0     3