Chieffalo’s relief effort helps Malvern Prep beat West Chester Henderson in opener
WEST CHESTER >> Malvern Prep and West Chester Henderson combined to score 14 runs in their season opener Friday afternoon at Bob Owens Field.
That there was a season opener at all was cause for celebration.
After nearly two years away from the diamond, Malvern Prep senior pitcher Dom Chieffalo came in in the third inning to calm a Warrior rally and then throw four brilliant innings of relief just when the Friars needed him, and Malvern Prep went on to an impressive 9-5 victory over the host Warriors.
Malvern Prep (1-0) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning with the big blow being a towering two-run homer off the bat of Lonnie White, stinging Henderson starter Jackson Snyder. The ball left Owens Field in a hurry and went over the 360 foot sign in left center field.
The Friars then put up four more runs in the top of the second inning with a two-run double by Jimmy Kirk being the big hit. But Henderson came back and scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning off Friars starter Connor Street, and it was a 7-5 Malvern lead after three innings. Dean O’Neill had a big two-run double for the Warriors in the bottom of the third inning.
Chieffalo got in some trouble of his own making in the bottom of the fourth. He walked leadoff hitter Logan Culp and then gave up a single to Nick Cugino to put runners on first and second with no one out. Zach Klein walked to load the bases, and it looked like Henderson (0-1) would take the lead in the see saw contest.
But, Chiafflao got Zach Wheeler to pop out in the infield for the first out and then retired Brett McCartney and O’Neill to get out of the inning with the Friars lead intact at 8-5.
“When you come on in relief I just try to pound the strike zone,” Chieffalo said. “I got in some trouble of my own in the fourth inning but made some good pitches to get out of it. And I thought I had everything working pretty well for me today. It is a great thing to pitch for this team. I feel we are the best team in the state. The lineup is stacked and the guys make all the plays behind me. That really takes the pressure off a pitcher.”
With a three-run lead heading to the top of the fifth, the Friars scratched out another run. Ryan Cochran led off with a walk and after two Friars were struck out by Warriors receiver Eddie Smink, Kirk took a fastball to left field to score Cochran and it was a 9-5 Malvern Prep lead.
“We really needed Dom to come in and give us a good effort,” Malvern Prep coach Fred Hilliard said. “He took a bullet for us today and gave us some good innings so we could save some arms for our game Saturday against La Salle. He made his own trouble in the fourth inning but he got out of it and then threw two more shutout innings for us. We needed him to throw strikes and he did a good job of doing that today.”
Chieffalo set the Warriors down in order in the bottom of the fifth inning and after giving up a two-out single to Klein in the bottom of the sixth, Chieffalo retired Wheeler on a hard ground ball to third base and the Warriors’ valiant comeback was thwarted.
“If you think you are a good team, you want to challenge yourself against good teams and they are one of the best in the state,” West Chester Henderson coach Luke McNichol said. “It was a good opportunity to get in a game before the league starts next week. They jumped out early on us and we battled back and then they pulled ahead again and the guy they brought in shut the door. But I saw some good things today from us.”
Malvern Prep 9, West Chester Henderson 5
Malvern Prep 340 101 0 – 9
WC Henderson 113 000 0 – 5
2B – Kirk, Conley, White, O’Neill. 3B – Kirk. HR – White.
WP – Street. LP – Snyder.
