Zettlemoyer blanks D-East as D-West remains in first of Ches-Mont National

DOWNINGTOWN >> The Downingtown West baseball team took another giant step toward defending its Ches-Mont National Division title Monday afternoon as Whippet ace Joey Zettlelmoyer hurled a three-hitter and completely dominated rival Downingtown East in an impressive 5-0 triumph.
West maintained a two-game lead in the Ches-Mont National race with three games to play.
West (14-2 Ches-Mont) jumped on the Cougars (7-9) early as senior Ryan Giordoni led off the game with a sharp double off Cougar starter Chase Fike. J.P. Bell followed with a single, Mike Mollenhauer knocked in Giordoni with a sacrifice fly and Bell scored the game’s second run on a passed ball.
“We like to get out early on teams and it seems like it picks everyone up right away,” Giordoni said. “And it gets everybody’s bats going and then we just let our defense do its job. And it is easy to field behind Joey because he never walks anybody and he does not let the hitters make solid contact.”
East did not hit any balls very hard agains the Whippet ace as Zettlemoyer scattered three singles, walked just one batter and struck out three on the day. The senior established his fastball and changeup early in the game and the Cougars seemed powerless to square up on a ball and do any damage.
“I was getting ahead early in the count with my fastball,” Zettlemoyer said. “And then my changeup and curve were mixed in and catcher Nick Campana called another great game and my defense keeps making all the plays. This was a total team win and we are getting closer to our goal of winning the Ches-Mont again. Last year I was a junior and our goal was to win the league and then once you win it you really want to get it again.”
The Whippets scored again in the bottom of the second inning off Fike when Drew Britt led off the inning with a walk. J.J. Freeman stroked one of his two singles on the day to put runners on first and second with no one out. Fike got Reyce Curnane to fly out to center for the first out, but Britt moved up to third base on the out. Robbie Note then laced a hard grounder to short to score Britt and the Whippets were up 3-0 after two innings.
The margin may as well have been 100-0 the way Zettlemoyer was throwing. East garnered its first hit in the top of the fifth when pat Howe stroked a two-out single to left field. The only other East hits were singles by Mike Rodriguez and Kelsey Lanuai and no Cougar advanced past first base on the day.
“We have gotten shut out six times this season,” Downingtown East coach Pete Susi said. “The kids are pressing at the plate but Joey deserves credit for keeping our guys off balance. He was solid and he has been solid for them all season.”
The Whippets were not done scoring as they plated single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Bell hit a long sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to score Curnane, who led off the inning with a base on balls and was advanced around the bases on a bunt by Note and another single by Giordoni. The West run in the fifth inning was an RBI single by the hot Freeman, knocking in Eric Grintz, who led off the inning with a long double to the base of the fence in center field.
“Joey was excellent today,” said Downingtown West coach Dave Oleszek. “He kept them off balance with a nice assortment of pitches. And that is the difference between a senior and a sophomore, because he established his change up in the strike zone and it is easier to play defense behind him because he does not let anybody square up on him.”
The win was Downingtown West’ s11th in a row. The  Whippets travel to play Avon Grove on Wednesday.

Downingtown West 5, Downingtown East 0

D-East                    D-West
    ab    r    h    b        ab    r    h    b
Alba ss    3    0    0    0    Giordoni ss    3    1    2    0
Boorman 2b    3    0    0    0    Bell cf    2    1    1    1
Rodriguz 3b    3    0    1    0    Campna 3b    3    0    0    0
Amicon 1b    3    0    0    0    Molnhar cf    2    0    0    1
Fike p    3    0    0    0    Grintz c    3    1    1    0
Bendixen lf    0    0    0    0    Zetlemyr p    0    0    0    0
Launi rf    3    0    1    0    Britt dh    1    1    0    0
Choi cf    0    0    0    0    Freemn 2b    3    0    2    1
Munnely dh    3    0    0    0    Curane 1b    2    1    0    0
Peiffer lf    1    0    0    0
Howe lf    1    0    1    0    Note lf    1    0    0    1
Kalten c    1    0    0    0    Posner dh    1    0    0    0
Totals    24    0    3    0    Totals    26    5    6    5
D-East    000    000    0    —    0
D-West    210    110    0    —    5
2B: Giordoni (DW), Grintz (DW).
    IP    R    H    BB    SO
D-East
Fike, L    5    5    6    4    2
Jewett    1    0    0    0    0

D-West
Zettlemyr, W    7    0    3    1    3