Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Phillies lose again, swept by D’Backs
Exton starts fasts, rolls over West Chester
WEST GOSHEN >> The Exton Bandits American Legion baseball team has been struggling to score runs lately, totaling just two runs combined in their last two contests. But Monday night against host West Chester, the Bandits broke out in a very big way.
Exton piled on the host team by scoring seven runs in the first inning and kept right on going as they defeated West Chester, 16-0, in a mercy rule shortened five inning affair.
The big hitters for the Bandits (7-3) were Thomas Caulfield, who banged out five RBIs, and Matt Dinacci, who laced two doubles and a triple to go along with his two RBIS. Dinacci hit frozen ropes all three times he came to the plate and he talked about his teams early uprising. It was something, he said, the Bandits needed.
“We got out at them early and scored those seven runs and it got us going,” Dinacci said. “We have struggled with men in scoring position the last two games so to get out early was a big thing for our confidence and it really got us going tonight. We had quality at bats and our coaches talked to us about that before the game. We were working the count and see-
ing a lot of pitches tonight.”
Exton also got a sparkling pitching performance from Jackson Ritthmael who allowed West Chester (1-11) just two hits in his five innings of work, struck out eight West Chester batters and walking just one West Chester batter.
“Jackson had a back injury during the high school season that hampered him but he is in a groove right now,” Exton head coach Steve Fitch said about the maturation of his pitcher. “He threw strikes tonight and went after hitters and it is always nice to get a seven run lead before you go out on the mound. He is really coming on and his composure is growing.”
Exton banged out the seven first inning runs off West Chester starter Mason Parks. Chase Longenecker and Matt Bevilacqua banged out singles and Dinacci laced a double to right field. Caulfield hit a towering ball to center field for a three-run triple and the Bandits got help from the host team as West Chester committed three errors and Parks walked three batters. The Bandits also took extra bases after West Chester carelessly threw the ball around getting it back to the infield.
“We tried not to get into bad habits and relax once we got the early lead,’ Dinacci said. “We wanted to keep going at them after we scored those seven runs and we did that. We feel we can play with all the better teams in this league and we know we cannot relax at all in any game.”
Parks was lifted after the first three men reached base in the second inning and West Chester head coach Dave Graf brought in Ryan Cash to try to stop the Bandits. But the plan did not work as Exton scored five more runs on just two hits. Four walks and two more West Chester errors led to the rally and after two innings Exton was in complete control, 12-0.
Ritthamel was spotting his fastball and dropping a nice curve ball in and the host team managed just two hits off the Bandit starter. Ron Squilante’s second inning triple and a single by Ryan Paulina in the fifth inning were the only knocks off the Exton pitcher.
Exton put the game into the mercy rule with four fourth inning runs. Ritthamel got things going with a one out single. Justin Lucas put two men on after Cash walked him. After getting Brady Bash to fly to center field for the second out, Ian Tracy roped a two-run single. After Longenceker walked, Dinacci hit a RBI double to right field to make it a 16-0 game and West Chester was put out of its misery.
“The win tonight was good for us to score some runs,” Fitch said. “We have a stretch now where we play 15 game sin 19 days so we needed to get the bats going.