Short-handed Wissahickon handles William Tennent

LOWER GWYNEDD >> Freshman Jarrett Federer and other underclassmen earned starts for Wissahickon Tuesday afternoon when eight regulars were unable to play due to COVID-19 concerns. The first baseman made the most of his opportunity, knocking in the Trojans first two runs against William Tennent.

Those two runs were all the offense needed behind a dominant effort from pitcher Nate DeVincent, who went six innings in a 7-1 Suburban One League crossover win over the Panthers at Wissahickon High School.

“We had a lot of our main varsity guys out so our younger guys stepped it up a lot today,” DeVincent said. “Guys came in with some clutch hits. The top of the order – we just got around the bases, ran the bases well, some timely hits. We all just chipped in at the end.”

“We knew our younger guys weren’t going to be phased,” Wiss coach Andy Noga said. “They’re ready for this moment. It was good to see that. They played with confidence and had a lot of fun out there. It was nice.”

Federer’s first RBI came in the bottom of the first inning. Aidan DeFeo led off with a single and advanced to second on a Ben Junker sacrifice bunt. After an out, Federer stepped to the plate and hit a grounder deep into the hole at shortstop. Federer hustled down the line, beat the throw and collided with Tennent’s first baseman at the bag. DeFeo scored from second to make it 1-0 Trojans.

DeFeo led off the bottom of the third with a triple before Junker and Kasey Weiss worked walks to load the bases with no outs. Federer made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to deep left field.

“We’re very excited about Jarrett,” Noga said. “We like Jarrett a lot. His at-bats really showed out today. He had a plan when he went up there. He was right on their pitcher right away. I know he’s a big dude but he can get down the line pretty quick. Him giving us a hard 90 in the first inning to beat out that throw and give us an early lead and then get the ball to the outfield. Their left fielder made a nice catch on that ball. Very impressed by Jarrett.”

Weiss scored on an error to extend the lead to 3-0 after three innings.

The Panthers cut into their deficit in the fifth inning when Josh Nydick reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a DJ Dickson triple.

After trading scoreless half-innings, Wiss pulled away in the bottom of the sixth. Nine Trojans batted in the frame and four crossed the plate – Ryan Culp on a wild pitch, DeFeo on a Junker double, Junker on a Weiss double and Weiss on a DeVincent single – to extend the lead to 7-1 with one inning remaining.

Aside from Dickson’s triple, DeVincent kept William Tennent off the scoreboard for six innings. He struck out five batters to one walk and allowed three hits.

“Nate pitched well,” Noga said. “This is his first start since (St. Joe’s) Prep which was the first week of the season. He’s been doing a very good job for us out of the pen. We trust Nate a lot when he comes in and throws strikes. He’s got electric stuff – very good fastball with a lot of life and a good breaking ball. He did a good job trusting our defense – it was a new defense out there, it wasn’t the same infield he’s used to dealing with. He did a great job just pounding the strike zone and trusting our defense.”

The right-hander got into trouble in the first two innings but escaped with his shutout intact. In the first inning he stranded runners on second and third before loading the bases with no outs in the second. He got a strikeout, fielder’s choice at the plate and pop up to shortstop to end the threat.

“Just throw strikes,” DeVincent said of his mindset in those situations. “Nothing too much – hope they put it in play and hope our defense makes a play. Hopefully I can get some strikeouts.”

Mike Scheller started for Tennent and took the loss. In 3.1 innings he allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out five batters to two walks. Kevin Ralston came on in relief and allowed four runs on four hits in 2.1 innings. He struck out three batters to no walks.

“Early on we left five guys on through two innings,” Tennent coach Lucas Denczi said. “That’s been a little bit of a problem up to this point this year. We just couldn’t get the hit. Then going into the sixth it’s a 3-1 ball game and it just ran out of steam there on a back-to-back.”

New coach

Denczi is in his first season in charge of the Panthers. He teaches at the school and coaches JP Mascaro in the Greater Norristown American Legion Baseball League.

“The legion background has given me a good start to jump over to schools,” he said. “I’m happy to be with this bunch. It’s a good group of kids and I’m happy I could take over this year, especially with the tough year last year – the seniors not having a junior year.”

Wissahickon 7, William Tennent 1

William Tennent 000 050 0 – 1

Wissahickon 102 004 x – 7

WP: Nate Devincent 6 IP 5 K 1 BB 3 H 1 R

LP: Mike Scheller 3.1 IP 5 K 2 BB 5 H 3 R

2B: WS: Ben Junker, Kasey Weiss.

3B: WT: DJ Dickson. WS: Aidan DeFeo.