Keller comes through for Dock Mennonite in win over Lower Moreland
TOWAMENCIN >> Mason Keller made it sound simple.
“I was just trying to take a nice, easy swing and put the bat on the ball,” Dock’s first baseman said. “The ball will carry itself.”
Keller delivered in the clutch on Thursday, driving in four runs to help power Dock to a rain-soaked 11-1 victory over rival Lower Moreland.
“It was nice. We lost to them last time (7-6) so it was good to come out and get the win,” said Keller, who went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. “I tried my best out there — I’ve been hitting the ball a little bit better lately.”
Keller smashed a towering double over the head of center fielder Coleman Peppelman to knock in two runs and extend Dock’s lead to 5-1 in the third.
In the fourth, he came through with a two-run single, widening the margin to 9-1 as Dock crept closer to the 10-run mercy rule. J.D. Bennett’s line-drive single to center plated two more to make it 11-1, and right hander Nolan Bolton retired Lower Moreland in the top of the fifth to end it.
“We did a good job of getting the barrel on the baseball,” Pioneers coach Jim Smith said. “We really got balls in play, forced the defense to pick it up and we took advantage of everything they gave us. We did a really good job of stringing things along.”
Dock (8-3, 7-3 in the Bicentennial Athletic League Independence), scoring five in the third and six in the fourth to break the game open, also got a pair of RBI’s from Bolton. On the mound, the senior threw all five innings, allowing just one run off of two hits while striking out five and walking two with two hit batters.
“It was the first start for Nolan in two years now and I was really impressed,” Smith said. “He did a good job of throwing strikes. He mixed pitches well, had both pitches working on the plate. And he kept guys off balance.”
Lower Moreland (9-2, 8-1 BAL Independence) took a 1-0 lead in the third when Kenny Wieczorek was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a fielder’s choice.
But the Lions committed five costly errors in the third and fourth.
“You gotta make the plays against a good team,” coach Tony Martino said. “We made some mistakes and it cost us today.”
Matt Haggerty got off to a strong start against the defending District 1-2A Champs, but the lefty ran into trouble in the third and fourth, a combination of errors, walks and timely hitting by Dock making it a rough stretch.
“Matt always goes out and he battles,” Martino said. “We kind of threw him into the fire in (the District 1-4A Championship Game, won by Lower Moreland) last year as a freshman. This year, he’s a sophomore and he’s battling. The defense just has to pick him up behind but we’ll continue to work with that and get better.”
Lower Moreland is at MaST Charter Monday at 3:45 p.m. Dock is back on the diamond Friday, hosting Faith Christian at 3:45 p.m.
“We’re starting to pick up our bats,” Keller said. “And our pitching’s finally starting to come through. And the fielding is looking up, better than it did earlier in the season.”
