Concannon powers West Chester Rustin past Coatesville
WESTTOWN — A five-run third inning and a six-RBI day from Charlie Concannon ignited the West Chester Rustin offense as they thumped Coatesville, 14-5, in their Ches-Mont league baseball game Thursday afternoon.
Conannon went 4-for-4 at the plate, belting out two, 2-run home runs along with two doubles.
“I felt good at the plate,’ said Concannon. “I was seeing the ball well and props to Andrew Coleman for getting me up to bat pretty much every time. We (all) are just seeing pitches and
putting good swings on it.’
Rustin coach Brad Harkins added that his first baseman was not only seeing the ball well but was delivering in crucial situations.
“Charlie is a great offensive player and what impressed me more than anything is his six two-out RBIs,’ he said. “That’s something can really put a team over the top in a game.’
After the Golden Knights (3-0 Ches-Mont, 3-0) jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning, Coatesville (0-3, 0-3) chipped away in the top of the third to make it a 5-3 game on an RBI groundout by Jorge Rodriguez and an RBI double from Vic Gabriel.
Rustin looking for some offensive padding, found it with a five-run third. Scott Spak led off the inning by reaching first on an error by Coatesville shortstop Kurt Eichelroth.
Noah Yoder followed and did not let Coatesville starter Isaiah Holmes sneak a fastball by him as he deposited a 1-0 pitch well over the left-field fence for a 7-3 lead.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play,’ Yoder said simply.
The Golden Knights’ RBI parade continued, Kevin Dougherty reached first on an error by Holmes. Two batters later, Coleman brought Dougherty home from first on a two-out, double. He scored as Concannon followed with the first of his two homers, a shot over the right-field fence.
“That (third inning) was big,’ said Harkins. “We’re chipping away, coming back. Any time a team scores and you can answer by scoring in the next half inning that’s huge because that takes their momentum away. I thing that home run (from Yoder) really helped to get us back in an offensive-minded situation. It put us back in a position where we could (use) some more runs.’
From the third inning on the Golden Knights cruised to victory behind their starter Andrew Chobany and relief pitcher Owen Hovik.
Chobany provided four solid innings, allowing only three runs on five hits and only walking one.
“I felt fine and I know the offense is behind me so I know if I get in any jam I’ll be all right,’ said Chobany. “When I got down in the beginning the three runs were huge (in the bottom of the first). I got my confidence back up and the third inning was huge. That (third inning) just got us a lot of momentum to get through the fourth, fifth, sixth.’
“He battled out there,’ added Harkins. “He got behind in some counts but he was throwing strikes and letting his defense work for him and that’s usually what we get. He’s a pretty consitent pitcher and that’s part of the positive he brings to the table for us.’
On Coatesville’s end, head coach Hal Ziegler was vying for his 299th career win. He gave his thoughts on why his pitching corps struggled against the Golden Knights.
“Couldn’t throw strikes, hit guys and when we threw a strike, we couldn’t field the ball,’ he said. “We just had a little bit of trouble with everything. We were swinging the bats but you have to play defense too. That’s the thing that’s holding us back is our defense. We just need to find the right guys to put in the right positions on the field.’
Coatesville’s defense committed three errors, each resulting in a run.
Harkins will rely on the senior Concannon to help provide more offensive games.
“His approach and leadership this year have been outstanding,’ said Harkin.
“Our order has been turning it over left and right,’ Concannon added. “We are getting all our guys a lot of at-bats and the more at-bats you can get early on the better we will all be hitting.’
