Starter Stento finishes the job in Pope John Paul II’s 5-2 win over Pottstown
UPPER PROVIDENCE >> His role on the team is different this year, but A.J. Stento still remembers how to finish baseball games.
Stento gave Pope John Paul II a complete-game pitching effort Friday as it hosted Pottstown in a Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division matchup. His masterful mound work went a long way toward the Golden Panthers staying in the thick of the Frontier title chase with a 5-2 victory over the Trojans.
Though passing the 100-pitch mark — he had 103 for the afternoon — Stento rebounded from a slow start to complete the run. Being a starter this spring is in considerable contrast to his job in 2017.
“Last year, I was a closer,” the senior right-handed hurler said. “This year, I have the whole game to get loose. Sometimes that’s a good thing.”
Stento held Pottstown to just four hits on the day, being touched for all the Trojans’ runs in their first at-bat. His recovery featured nine strikeouts — he fanned the side in the fifth, got the game’s last two outs on whiffs — and gave up just two walks.
While Stento was handcuffing Pottstown from the second inning on, the Panthers (4-3 PAC Frontier, 4-3-1 overall) got their own bats untracked starting in the third inning. They got on the board in the third, went up 3-2 with a pair in the fourth before plating a pair of insurance tallies in the fifth.
“That’s not our usual start,” PJP manager Josh Hartline said. “We gave them life and energy. But A.J. threw the ball great.”
Timmy Dobbs gave Pottstown cause for hope in the early going. He hung tough with Stento for the first three frames, working a two-hitter and limiting the Panthers to a run in the third when Jake Undercuffler drew a leadoff walk and courtesy runner Logan Mabry came around with help from a Mike Kelly sacrifice bunt and CJ McCafferty single.
But PJP caught up to the Trojan southpaw in the fourth, Colt Narciso (single) and Stento (fielder’s choice hit) driven home by Undercuffler’s groundout to shortstop and a Kelly single along the first-base line. The Panthers chased Dobbs in the fifth after Matt Pinone hit a leadoff double and scored off Narciso’s liner up the middle.
“Our pitching has been keeping us in games,” first-year Pottstown skipper Geoff Thomas said. “We’re being more aggressive at the plate.”
Aiden Leh took over Pottstown’s mound duties at that point. A passed ball accounted for PJP’s final run, but Stento’s subsequent triple to right field ended up capping the Panthers’ eight-hit offense.
“Dobbs and Leh … going from crafty to heat,” Thomas said in comparing his pitchers’ styles.
For his part, Stento’s pitching success against Pottstown centered on his fastball and slider. Three of his strikeouts were rung up on called third strikes, including the game’s final two outs after Cole Miller drew a one-out walk in the top of the seventh.
“His fastball was on any part of the plate,” Hartline said, “and his slider was effective with two strikes.”
Pottstown’s opening surge was started off by Dalton Mullen reaching base on an error and David Hicks drawing a walk. Mullen came around off Jimmy O’Donnell’s sacrifice bunt, then he and Hicks came home off Jake Eagle’s two-run single to right.
While there have been successful innings, it hasn’t translated to league wins for Pottstown, which sits 0-6 in the PAC Frontier and 2-7 overall. But the Trojans will keep plugging away.
“We talked before the game,” Thomas said, “and I told them I would not want to go out on the field with any other guys. We’ve played half a season, and we’re starting to get good production.
“We’re working to put the pieces in order. The wins will come.”
For PJP, the goal to keep pace with Frontier leader Phoenixville is not affording it a breather this weekend. The Panthers will host Upper Perkiomen, also second in the division standings, in a game noon Saturday.
They will start next week on the road, visiting Liberty Division members Norristown (April 23) and Owen J. Roberts (April 24) before coming back to the Frontier by hosting Phoenixville April 26.
“This will be a big game (Saturday),” Stento said. “We’re also focusing on Owen J. Roberts.”
NOTES >> Owen Morton’s double in the sixth inning was the longest of Pottstown’s hits. He also singled in the fourth, going 2-for-3 to head the Trojan bats. … Pottstown’s next game action will be Monday, when it hosts Owen J. Roberts. Into May, the Trojans will hold their annual Bobby Shantz Day with the local legend on hand for the Trojans’ May 7 matchup with Methacton.
