Plymouth Whitemarsh tops Wissahickon in 8 innings

LOWER GWYNEDD >> It didn’t feel like a March 28 league opener.

When Plymouth Whitemarsh and Wissahickon, two favorites in the Suburban One League American Conference, got together Thursday afternoon, it felt like a late-season matchup with the top spot in the standings on the line.

Both teams sent out their top arms — PW’s Ben Mascio and Wissahickon’s Quinn Rovner — and both pitchers lived up to the hype, combining for 13 1/3 innings and 22 strikeouts.

When the bullpens got involved, it was the Colonials who took advantage.

Plymouth Whitemarsh scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning to beat Wissahickon, 7-2, in the SOL American opener at Wissahickon High School.

No one was happier than PW leadoff hitter Drew Kliesh to see Wissahickon go to its bullpen. He was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against Rovner, but came through in the eighth against Mike Gorman, hitting an RBI double with one out in the top of the eighth to give the Colonials a 3-2 lead.

“Striking out three times in a game,” Kliesh said, “you never want to do that. That feeling for (Rovner) to come out and see something new felt really good.

“I knew earlier in the count (PW coach Chris) Manero was probably going to give the bunt sign and he did. In my head I just wanted to hit, but I knew I had to do it for my team because I had to get that guy over. When the opportunity went dead with the bunt situation — it was a 3-2 count — I knew I couldn’t strike out. You can’t do that. I was just looking for that fastball, hoping to foul off anything else. I got that fastball first pitch with a 3-2 count and drove it over the centerfielder’s head.”

Joe Jaconski was intentionally walked and Kevin Reilly singled to load the bases with one out before Mascio hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.

Anthony Tomassetti worked a walk to load the bases again and Michael Orensky blew the game open, belting a three-run double to make it 7-2.

“The conversation (before the top of the eighth) was for everyone to be ready,” Manero said. “For everyone to be ready for any role, any situation. We went to the bench a lot that inning. We have a veteran group and I think they’re very situationally aware. I think they knew the situation. They knew what we had to do. We actually missed a couple signs that inning, but we recovered with that big extra-base hit and then some.”

Wissahickon had two runners on with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Jaconski was able to get two outs to close out the win.

Neither starting pitcher earned a decision.

Mascio went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out 11 batters to one walk.

“I was just hitting my spots early in the count,” Mascio said, “just getting ahead. I wasn’t falling behind too often. (Rovner’s success) makes we want to come out and compete a little extra and best him, be the best one out there.”

“Ben was great,” Manero added. “He’s a junior. He’s now in his second full season of varsity. He knows how to pitch. I think he’s very aware of what’s working for him. He came out today and he was mixing his pitches up and everything was working for him.”

Rovner threw seven innings, striking out 11 batters to no walks while allowing two runs on five hits.

“Quinn pounds the strike zone,” Wiss coach Andy Noga said. “He works fast, he challenges hitters and that’s what we ask of our pitchers to do. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t pick him up from an offensive standpoint until a little bit later.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-2, 1-0) got both its early runs in the fourth inning. Jaconski led off with a double and scored on a Mascio single. After courtesy runner Quindarius Dye, who scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, was picked off, Tomassetti hit a solo home run to make it 2-0.

“(Masio) is a guy who is good on the mound,” Manero said of his pitcher who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a triple from the plate, “but when he’s hitting also, he helps you in so many ways. He was big today on both ends.”

Wissahickon (0-1, 0-1) cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth. Joe Hornig singled with two outs and stole second. He scored when pinch hitter Joel Bordammen singled.

The Trojans tied the game in the sixth. Eddie Fortescue singled, stole second and stole third before scoring on a Bobby McFarland single.

The Colonials went to their bullpen in the seventh inning. Mascio exited after allowing a one-out double to Ryan Keys. Steve Gallagher came on in relief and — after intentionally walking Brian Hynes — got Brian Menhardt to pop out to shortstop and struck out Fortescue to send the game to extras.

“It’s always good to start off against a good team like PW,” Noga said, “but this was our first time out in a week and I was very happy with how we came out. I thought we competed, but I think we’ll be much better once we start playing a couple times a week. We’ll be much more sharp offensively. I thought we left a lot of runs on the board.”