Ben Mascio throws another gem in Plymouth Whitemarsh’s District 1-6A win over Avon Grove
WHITEMARSH >> Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.
A week after throwing a complete game shutout to clinch Plymouth Whitemarsh its first league title in 14 years, pitcher Ben Mascio had another dominant performance to give the Colonials their first playoff win since 2011.
The left-hander allowed one run on four hits over 6 2/3 innings Wednesday afternoon as No. 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh took care of No. 11 Avon Grove, 4-1, in the second round of the District 1-6A playoffs at Colonial Yards at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
“I don’t know if he’ll admit it or not but he was a little amped up when he came out today,” PW coach Chris Manero said. “It’s funny, just watching him game-to-game he has these patterns where he seems to get better as the game goes on and starts mixing up his pitches. He came out today and he was pumping some high fastballs and they were chasing them. It was just a little bit of a different version of Ben. It’s pretty cool that he can find success in different ways each game.”
“I love throwing in the big game,” Mascio said. “Who doesn’t?
“Everyone came out a little more excited and ready to go, especially since we played them first round last year (5-3 Avon Grove win). Everyone came out ready to go.”
Mascio finished the game with nine strikeouts and three walks. He didn’t allow a runner to reach second base until the sixth inning.
“We’ve done really well against left-handers this year,” Avon Grove coach Dave Whitcraft said, “so we weren’t super concerned about that. We knew he was going to pound the outside, but when he comes with that high fastball that’s out of the strike zone we could not stay disciplined. He took full advantage of it. He’s smart on the hill, he keeps you off balance once in a while with a nice changeup. We showed what we’re capable of doing throughout the year by being disciplined and today he took it to us. Flat out.”
The sixth inning was the only time Mascio got into any trouble.
With a 4-0 lead, Mascio hit Shane Kelleher to start the top of the sixth. He followed with a great play off the mound to field a bunt and get the first out at first. Dan Luettgen followed with a single to put runners on the corners and Bryce Porter hit a ground-rule double — which was initially ruled a three-run home run — to get the Red Devils on the board and cut their deficit to 4-1. Mascio finished the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, stranding Porter on second and Luettgen on third to end the threat.
Back to back strikeouts for Mascio to strand runners on 2nd and 3rd. PW up 4-1 mid 6. pic.twitter.com/FfOXjshCHs
— Ed Morlock (@emor09) May 22, 2019
“That was a big, big spot,” Manero said. “Honestly, it’s a spot he hasn’t really been in very much lately. We haven’t had a lot of high-pressure situations when he’s been on the mound. Close game, runners in scoring position — it was good to see that he found whatever was inside of him and got that out. That not only is good for him, but it picks everybody else up.”
Mascio got plenty of help from his defense. In the second inning shortstop Joe Jaconski caught a line drive and threw to first for a double play to end an Avon Grove threat. Third baseman Anthony Tomassetti made a diving play and catcher Kevin Reilly threw out a runner stealing in the third inning.
“Our defense today was just tremendous,” Manero said. “To see the gloves the way they were today was fun to watch.”
“We played a great defensive game today,” Mascio added, “made almost every play. I can’t think of an error.”
Mascio recorded two outs in the top of the seventh before walking a batter and reaching his pitch limit. Jaconski came on in relief to get the one-out save.
Jaconski also made an impact on the offensive end. He led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to right field.
“Joe’s a great player,” Manero said. “Offensively he can do so much for us, but he plays great defense and he’s a weapon for us out of the bullpen. I have a guy who’s an all-around athlete, great baseball player, can do it all. We try to maximize his roles where we use him the most and we try to use him in some of those other roles only when we have to.”
PW added another run in the third on a Jacob Nunez RBI single and two more in the fourth on a Drew Kliesh single and Kevin Reilly fielder’s choice.
Drew Iaia started and took the loss for the Red Devils. In 2 2/3 innings he allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three batters to three walks. Ryan Litchko followed, allowing two runs in 2/3 innings. Tom DiVittorio recorded the next five outs to get through the fifth inning, allowing one hit and no runs. Karl Schmidt threw the final inning and sat down the Colonials 1-2-3.
“We’ve been doing this all year with our pitching,” Whitcraft said, “throwing three and four guys in a round, trying to get it done with some smoke and mirrors from time to time, but today PW played cleanly, they played with passion and they played absolutely like the No. 6 seed and hopefully do well.”
PW will face No. 3 Souderton in the district quarterfinals Friday. The winner advances to the semifinals and clinches a spot in the state playoffs.
Avon Grove’s season comes to an end with the loss.
“Tremendous success,” Whitcraft said, “particularly the second half. We were 6-5 going into our 12th game of the year, hadn’t won back-to-back games. Ended up winning seven of the last nine and showed that we were capable of beating the top teams in our league with Downingtown East and Downingtown West. That was the first time we’ve had a first-round bye in a while. Proud of these guys from the start of the season to the end of the season.”
