Breisblatt continues Phoenixville’s pitching dominance in win over Pottsgrove

PHOENIXVILLE >> The Phoenixville baseball team rode a powerful lineup and paired it with some clutch pitching on the way to a Pioneer Athletic Conference championship in 2019.

Two seasons removed, the reigning league champs are using a different formula as they defend their title.

Propelled by a dominant pitching staff and timely hitting, Phoenixville has won seven of its first eight games, knocking off Pottsgrove, 7-3, at home on Monday to maintain the top spot in the PAC and Frontier Division standings.

Senior Kade Breisblatt gave the Phantoms another solid start and senior Jason Bilotti finished off the game out of the bullpen. Junior Drew Kingsbury drove in three runs at the dish to deliver Phoenixville its fifth straight win.

“Our pitching is carrying us really,” said Kingsbury, who played first on Monday but is also one of the Phantoms starters. “This was one of our first games that wasn’t a shutout. We have eight really solid pitchers, four really good starters. We’ve been swinging pretty well, but our bats definitely came alive today. It’s a lot different from that PAC ‘chip when we had more hitters than pitchers.”

Breisblatt allowed two runs on two hits and three walks in five innings to pick up his second win of the season. He previously tossed six innings (one earned run) in a 5-2 win over Spring-Ford on April 16 — the Rams’ lone loss of the season.

Monday’s outing against Pottsgrove (4-2 Frontier, 4-4 PAC) was fairly stressless. Two Breisblatt walks put runners in scoring position in the top of the third before a groundball to the right side by JR McMenamin plated a run to tie the game 1-1.

By the time Breisblatt allowed his second run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by McMenamin, the Phantoms built a 5-1 lead.

“The ump was giving me some low strikes, so I was just painting the corners and throwing strikes, honestly,” Breisblatt said.

“Today, you just gotta tip your hat to them,” Pottsgrove manager Jamie Nash said. “They threw a good pitcher and our approach at the plate wasn’t the best.”

Breisblatt, Kingsbury, Bilotti and senior MIke Memmo each started a pair of games. Phoenixville’s starters went five-or-more innings in all but one game — last Friday when senior Mike Memmo tossed the first four innings of a five-inning no-hitter against Pottstown.

The Phantoms’ pitching staff has an earned run average below one with Pottsgrove’s three runs (two earned) Monday the largest total allowed this season. Bilotti struck out four batters in two innings of relief.

“It’s great to be a part of it knowing we have guys who can come in and save you,” Breisblatt said. “We have a great pitching staff. Four stud pitchers. I don’t know who can stop us honestly. It’s a good advantage. Not a lot of teams have four pitchers who can go the whole game like we do.”

Phoenixville’s offense isn’t as potent as its pitching, but the inexperienced lineup — only catcher Justin Geiger was a starter on the 2019 team — has risen to the occasion to deliver in big spots thus far through the season and Monday’s game was no different as the Phantoms scored four of their runs Monday with two outs.

A two-out RBI double by Kingsbury in the bottom of the first plated Bilotti to get Phoenixville out to an early 1-0 lead. Kingsbury drove in two more runs with a no-out bases loaded single as part of a three-run bottom of the third that put the Phantoms ahead 4-1.

The Phantoms added two-out insurance runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Bilotti singled home a two-out run in the bottom of the fourth. Hudson Narke added an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth before Phoenixville added a second two-our run on an error.

Bilotti, Memmo, Geiger and Kingsbury all tallied a pair of hits in the 1, 2, 3 and 4 spots, respectively. Tom Davis added a double and a run scored.

“I started off a little rusty, but I’m just trying to put the ball in play,” said Kingsbury, who leads the team with three doubles and nine RBI. “I usually get a pretty good amount of power behind the ball because of my size. As long as you put it in play, it’ll go. I’m just trying to keep getting people in, keep scoring runs and keep getting hits.”

Shortstop Steven Rinda went 2-for-3 for Pottsgrove, driving in a run with a double in the top of the sixth. Designated hitter Avery Spencer continued his seven-game hit streak with a 2-for-4 day.

Pottsgrove starter Ryan Van Bramer gave the Falcons 4.2 solid innings. He allowed five earned runs, striking out four and allowing three walks. McMenamin didn’t allow a run in 1.1 innings of relief.

The Phantoms appeared poised to break the game open in the bottom of the third after Kingsbury’s two-RBI single put runners on first and second with no outs and two runs already in. But Van Bramer started a double play on a bunt attempt to keep the damage to just one more run and the game within reach.

“When I first started with the program, that would have turned into six, seven, eight runs,” Nash said. “Now, we’re smart enough, the guys are good enough ballplayers to limit it, to not panic. Ryan Van Bramer on the mound, he’s a sophomore, but he’s calm, cool and collected out there.”

The battle for the Frontier Division and a spot in the PAC Final Four came down to the final day of the regular season in 2019, but the Phantoms already possess a season sweep over the Falcons, pairing Monday’s win with an 11-2 victory April 13.

Pottsgrove had a strong showing last week when they nearly knocked off Methacton before a late-inning rally and followed with division wins over Upper Perk and Pope John Paul II.

The Falcons have a difficult upcoming stretch against Owen J. Roberts and Boyertown before returning to the division next week with Frontier games against Upper Merion, Pottstown and Upper Perkiomen.

Nash has a strong senior core, but is relying on a large number of sophomores making the jump from the 8th-grade level to varsity after the 2019 missed season.

“They’re learning,” Nash said. “We’re learning on the fly. You see some youthful mistakes and youthful times at the plate. You see it from the sophomores, but you also see it from the guys who took a year off last year because of the pandemic too.

“We’re coming together on good days and bad days, one game at a time. But it’s a big learning curve. The seniors have been great, Avery, Rinda and Cooper (Fiore) obviously but it’s tough with so many young guys at times. But we’re battling. The kids do battle.”

Phoenixville and Spring-Ford look like the league’s top two teams nearly halfway through league play, both sitting a game up in the loss column on the rest of the PAC, meaning the Phantoms’ early-season win over the Rams could end up being the deciding factor in determining the league champion.

The Phantoms’ lone loss was a 1-0 defeat to Upper Perkiomen (4-1 Frontier, 4-3 PAC) on April 14. They won’t face the Indians again until May 5.

Upcoming this week are crossover games against Perkiomen Valley and Methacton that could go a long way not only for their PAC standing but also standing in the District 1-5A power rankings, where they were No. 2 entering Monday.

“We just want to go out and give everyone our best game, have the best record at the end of the year,” Breisblatt said. “Even though there’s no PAC playoffs, we still have districts to play for and hopefully win a district chip and maybe a state title.”