Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
WCABL gets back on the field
Bandits pound Englund’s as West Chester Adult Baseball League returns to action after coronavirus delay
There was a real, competitive sporting event played Saturday in the borough. Three of them, in fact. And in the second game of the West Chester Adult Baseball League’s trendsetting return to action, the Exton Bandits fired a very loud warning shot to the rest of the league.
Exton pounded out 13 hits against reigning league champion Englund’s Apparel, including two long home runs, as the Bandits scored 12 runs in the second inning and went on to a convincing 16-5 opening day win.
With Chester County’s recent move to the “green phase” of the COVID-19 re-opening, the WCABL was one of the first leagues of any kind to get back to action. In Game 1 of the tripleheader, the Red Men beat Ramcon Masons, 6-1. In the nightcap, the Jays edged Haly Oil, 2-1.
One of the Bandits who went over the fence in Exton’s resounding win was shortstop Ken Jaremma, who pounded out three hits and had four RBI. Jaremma took Pat McDonough deep over the right field fence in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Bandits (10) a 16-5 lead.
“I hit a fastball that he came over the top with,” Jaremma said. “He was coming in side armed but the pitch I hit was over the top. Honestly, I thought the pitching would be ahead the offense because everybody has been off because of COVID-19. But, we had our hitting shoes on today. We had everybody here today and I told Coach (Jim) Turner, that this might be our best lineup we are going to have.”
Things did not start out so rosy for the Bandits, however. Exton starter Dylan Pfeiffer walked the first two Englund’s batters and then gave up a long three-run home run to Mike Douglas to give the Clothiers (01) an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Bandits came back with two runs in the bottom of the first courtesy of a tworun bomb by Albert Choi to make it a 3-2 game after one inning.
“I hit a fastball little up,” Choi said. “It was a 0-1 count and I got a good piece of it and it went out. We just all were hitting the ball today. We all seemed to find the hit train today.”
Douglas helped Englund’s in the top of the second as he hit another home run, this one a tworun shot over the right field fence, and Englund’s had a 5-2 advantage. Douglas’ long home run was the last hit off Bandits pitching for the game, however, as Englunds ended the game with just three hits.
It was the bottom of the second inning that decided the contest.
The Bandits sent 17 batters to the plate in the frame, chasing Englund’s starter Jack Dovidio and also knocking around reliever Justin Neskie. The Englund’s defense, possibly rusty after months without playing a game, also contributed to the 12-run attack as they committed four errors in the inning. The Bandits got big hits from Jaremma, Casey Caufield, Spencer Piercy and James Vito, who had three hits on the day.
When the carnage was over, the Bandits put up 12 runs on eight hits and took full command of the game with a 14-5 lead after just two innings.
“We just all started to hit the ball really well,” Piercy said. “I mean, I thought the pitching would be ahead of the hitters but I was taking live at bats almost every day and it showed today. We just broke the game open in the second inning.”
The Bandits also got encouraging news on the pitching side as two Exton relievers, Jake Good and Dylan Heid, worked four scoreless innings in relief, not allowing a hit. Heid struck out five Englunds batters in his two innings of work as he overpowered the Clothiers with a fastball in the mid 90s.
“We all hit the ball real well l and this was a real good start for us,” Turner said.