West Chester East hurler Dowger blanks Penncrest in district opener
West Goshen >> West Chester East senior pitcher Matt Dowger was in top form Monday in the Vikings’ PIAA District 1 5A opener, hurling a three-hit shutout and striking out 11 batters in East’s 9-0 win against Penncrest.
“Matt was on key today,” said WC East head coach John Fleming. “He threw a lot of fastballs, just pounding the zone away. When you pitch that well, it keeps everyone in the game defensively. He didn’t run a lot of deep counts, so all of our fielders were part of every pitch.”
Dowger’s pitching was particularly crucial early in the game, as the Vikings held on to a slim 1-0 lead through 4 1/2 innings. In the top of the fifth, with Penncrest runners on second and third and only one out, Dowger registered a strikeout, then got the next batter to pop out.
“On the strikeout, I threw all fastballs,” said Dowger. “I threw a lot of fastballs today, my fastball was really working. I didn’t trust my off-speed stuff – they got a hit off a changeup early in the game.
“This win is sweet – I’ve never been part of a [PIAA] playoff win before.”
Coming into Monday’s contest, Dowger had struck out 60 batters and allowed only 14 walks.
West Chester East (13-7-1), the seventh seed in District 1 5A, will head to No. 2 seed Chichester Wednesday for the District 1 5A quarterfinals. Only three teams from District 1 5A advance to the state tournament, so the season ended for No. 10 seed Penncrest (8-13 overall, 8-8 Central League).
“These guys [WC East] are a very, very well-coached team, a very skilled team,” said Penncrest head coach Rusty Abrams. “We battled, and we hung with them for six innings.”
In the top of the first inning, Penncrest center fielder Brian McCurtin led off with a single to right field. He did not advance, however, as West Chester East senior second baseman Joey Wilczek made a nice play on a shot up the middle, turning it into an inning-ending double play.
“That [double play] set the tone for the game,” said Fleming.
Dowger scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning. He hit a leadoff double to right field, then sophomore left fielder Connor Ferguson singled past shortstop to score Dowger.
In the top of the third inning, McCurtin (who had two of Penncrest’s three hits) doubled down the left field line with two outs, but the following Lion batter struck out to end the threat.
In the fourth inning, both Dowger and Penncrest senior pitcher Kelley Davis (headed to Old Dominion next fall to play baseball) struck out the side.
In the top of the fifth inning, Penncrest threatened again. Right fielder Luke Cavanaugh led off with a single, then one out later Lion shortstop Brett Bonebrake was hit with a pitch. Both runners moved up on an errant pickoff throw, and the visitors had runners on second and third and only one out. But Dowger struck out the next hitter, then induced the following batter to pop out, ending the threat.
Fleming said, “Our catcher [Jackson Reed] did a phenomenal job receiving, framing our pitches. And he’s only a freshman, he’s only going to get better.”
In the bottom of the fifth, West Chester East scored four runs to give Dowger some breathing room. Viking right fielder Sean Wilmer reached first on an infield error, then one out later, Reed singled to right field, sending Wilmer to third. East senior shortstop Ryan Cogil singled to center to score Wilmer. Wilczek singled over second base to score Liam Dudley, who was running for Reed, to make the score 3-0.
With two outs, Dowger drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Cogil scored after a pickoff attempt at first base to give the hosts a 4-0 lead. East first baseman Keagan Azar walked to load the bases, then Wilczek scored on a wild pitch and the Vikings held a 5-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, Penncrest third baseman Chris Reed led off with a shot to deep left field that Ferguson grabbed with an acrobatic catch. Dowger retired the next two batters in order.
The Vikings added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Wilmer led off with an infield hit, then with one out Jackson Reed singled to right field. With runners on second and third, Wilczek, who will be playing baseball for Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton next fall, laid down a beautiful bunt single toward first base to score Wilmer. East center fielder Mason Griffin hit an RBI single to left center to make the score 7-0.
“Mason sets the tone for us as our No. 3 hitter,” said Fleming.
Dowger doubled to left field to score Wilczek and Griffin for a 9-0 Viking lead. It was Dowger’s second double of the game.
“Matt’s a stud, both at the plate and on the mound,” said Fleming.
Dowger was appreciative of the Vikings’ generous run support Monday.
“We were fortunate to score nine runs, which is hard to do on this field,” said Dowger. “Any time you score nine runs, it makes it easy for the pitcher.”
Fleming said, “We’ve had a lot of guys contribute offensively this year. We try to make sure everyone contributes, we believe in giving everyone on the team a chance, and when their number is called, they just get ready and go. Today was one of those games where everyone contributed.”
Next up for West Chester East is No. 2 seed Chichester.
Fleming said, “Chichester is a good team; I know some of the guys down there, so we know when we go down there, we’re going to be walking into a lion’s den. They had a bye today, so they’ll be fresh; we’re just going to try to get after it and make it the best game we can.”
For the Lions, the baseball season is over, and Abrams (a 1973 Penncrest grad) praised his squad for overcoming a fair amount of adversity this spring.
“We had some ineligibility [because of grades and COVID] during the season, and because of that, we struggled, we couldn’t get any consistency, but we started to put it together toward the end of the season,” said Abrams. “Having to beat Marple twice [to get into Districts] was really huge. Our kids learned so much, and they improved so much this season – that’s what got us here, so we were able to play these guys [WC East]. We overcame a lot of adversity this spring, and then we met a wall in West Chester East – these guys are a heck of a team. But we battled today, the effort was there.”
West Chester East 9, Penncrest 0
Penncrest 000 000 0 – 0
West Chester East 010 044 x – 9
WP – Dowger. LP – Davis.
2B – McCurtin (PEN), Dowger (WCE) 2.
