Baseball: WC Henderson routs WC Rustin in four innings

@PeteDLNontwitter
WEST CHESTER >> Wednesday afternoon at Bob Owens Field, it was definitely the West Chester Henderson baseball team’s day. The hosts got a sparkling pitching performance from Jackson Snyder, while the offense pounded out 11 hits as the Warriors rolled over West Chester Rustin, 15-0, in four innings in the Ches-Mont League contest.

The Golden Knights did not help their cause by committing five errors — four of them leading to three Henderson runs in the first inning.

“It was not their day in the field, but we stressed that we had to start putting the ball in play and we did that,” West Chester Henderson coach Luke McNichol said. “We got some good at-bats and Jackson pitched a heck of a ball game for us. They put some good swings when they were down in the count and he was very good for us. Another good thing was we were able to get in a lot of guys that have not played too much and they got some good at-bats and we got some timely hitting.”

The Warriors (6-1 Ches-Mont, 7-1 overall) got going early in the bottom of the first when Kevin Wheeler reached second base on a Golden Knights (3-3,3-3) error. Rustin starter Kyle Kearns got the next two outs, but an error on a ground ball hit by Brett McCartney scored a run for the Warriors.

McCartney ended up going to third base on the error and after Dylan Grim walked, McCartney scored on a wild pitch. Grim also eventually came around to score and the Warriors led 3-0 after one frame.

“It really helps to get a lead like that when you are on the mound,” Snyder said. “It allows you to relax and just go attack the hitters. We needed a game like this where we hit the ball hard and I think it will help us the rest of the season.”

Snyder was brilliant on the day. The senior struck out nine batters and allowed just three singles in his four innings of work. Snyder was locating his fastball and also had his breaking stuff diving down in the strike zone. The Henderson defense also played well in the field behind him.

The Warriors broke the game open in the bottom of the third as they chased Kearns from the game in favor of Charlie Hughes. The Warriors sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs on nine hits to take a commanding 11-0 lead.

The big blows for Henderson were home runs by Grim, who belted a two-run bomb off Kearns over the left-field fence. Later in the inning, Dean O’Neill took a Hughes breaking ball way over the left-field fence for a three-run blast and the rout was on.

“The first pitch he threw me was a breaking ball and I got a little fooled,” O’Neill said. “I just regrouped and got a pitch and swung hard and it went over the fence. It felt good off the bat.”
Snyder came out for the top of the fourth and allowed the leadoff batter to reach on an infield error. Snyder then struck out the next two hitters, Aidan Devlin and Carter Piercey. Drew Brown singled to put men on first and second. Snyder ended the inning by getting  Nate Wooters to fly out to deep center field.

The Warriors ended the game via the mercy rule by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fourth as Wheeler, Conor McCartney and Logan Laurento delivered big hits.

“My fastball was little better than usual today,” Snyder said. “And my defense behind me was very good. They were the biggest things today. These guys make a lot of plays for me.”

WC Henderson 15, WC Rustin 0, 4 innings
WC Rustin         000 0-0
WC Henderson 308 4-15
WP-Snyder. LP-Kearns.
HR-Grim. O’Neill.