Gavin Moretski pitches La Salle past Archbishop Wood

SPRINGFIELD >> For the second time in the last seven days Philadelphia Catholic League leader La Salle faced a rival one game back in the loss column.

And for the second time in the last seven days, pitcher Gavin Moretski led the Explorers to a win.

The right-hander threw a complete game one-hitter Wednesday afternoon as La Salle knocked off Archbishop Wood 3-1 at Ward Field on the campus of La Salle College High School.

Moretski took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and allowed one run — unearned — with two outs in the seventh. This came a week after he went 6 2/3 innings in a 1-0 win over Father Judge.

“I just try to trust my pitches,” Moretski, who struck out two batters to four walks, said, “and not do more than what I’m supposed to do. I just do what I do and trust our offense to do the rest.

“Off the bat my curveball was working occasionally, my changeup wasn’t there at first, but as the game kept going on I felt more comfortable. I felt like I could locate my pitches better and they worked when they needed to work.”

“We’ve got really good teams in the league,” La Salle coach Kyle Werman said. “We’ve been fortunate with the way the schedule is laid out that we’ve been able to line up and have Gavin available in these games against Judge and against Wood that are big games, the teams at the top of the league. These ballgames are like those championship ballgames that you have to find a way to win. You’re going to have moments like we had today where you’re struggling with that adversity and you find a way to pull through. We’re trying to learn how to handle that and we’ve done a really good job. It helps when Gavin is really good on the mound, gives you some wiggle room. These are big games. We’re trying to keep it rolling.”

The Explorers (12-5, 11-1 PCL) took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. David Kratz worked a one-out walk and advanced to second on a Jake Whitlinger single. Jack Heineman followed by grounding into a fielder’s choice, but the ball was thrown into the outfield, allowing Kratz to score and make it 1-0.

“For the most part we’ve been a pretty consistent team overall,” Wood coach Jim DiGuiseppe Jr. said. “In games of this magnitude — when you have two good teams going at it — sometimes a minor play like that turns into a run. It’s just the way it worked out. I thought our effort was really good. I thought it was a pretty solid game overall. We’re looking forward to continuing our season and hitting the playoffs pretty solid.”

The lead doubled in the fourth. Justin Igoe worked a one-out walk and pinch runner Sean McCallum took over at first. Daniel Choate followed with a double on a hit-and-run, scoring McCallum to make it 2-0.

Moretski helped himself in the fifth. After Heineman singled, stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball to right field, Moretski ripped a base hit up the middle to extend the lead to three.

“The first time through the lineup (Wood pitcher Dave Linsalata) had us,” Moretski said. “He had us off-balance and leaning for balls, but the second and third time through the lineup we had better approaches, just trying to hit the ball to right field, not pull it. Second and third time we felt better up there.”

The Vikings (13-5, 9-3 PCL) lone run came in the bottom of the seventh. Aiden Myers worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a groundout. After a groundball back to Moretski kept Myers at second, pinch hitter Nick Ferreira grounded into an error with two outs. The errant throw to first allowed Myers to score and put the tying run at the plate. Sam Reynolds lined out to second to end the game.

Reynolds tallied Wood’s only hit of the game — a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth. The base hit put runners on first and third with one out, trailing 2-0, but a groundball to Charlie Yanoshik at shortstop resulted in a double play.

“I thought (Moretski) did a good job of changing speeds against us,” DiGuiseppe said. “Quite honestly, I actually thought we had some really, really good at-bats there. Sometimes you have to credit the other team. They made some really nice defensive plays. I thought we did put some nice swings on the ball and they just made the plays behind their pitcher. That’s the sign of a good team and obviously La Salle’s a good team.”