Willner shines bright as Lower Merion tops Ridley
RIDLEY TWP. » Lower Merion has a chance to win every time Van Willner takes the mound.
The senior right hander twirled another gem Monday afternoon in the Aces’ 7-1 victory over Ridley. Willner, who is bound for East Carolina University, struck out 10 and allowed one unearned run on three hits across six dynamite innings.
“My motto is to just go out there and throw strikes, challenge hitters and have fun,” Willner said. “I really think my slider was working well today. I was pitching backwards to guys, starting out with the slider and then going to the change up and fastball.”
The Green Raiders were blinded by the light of Willner’s assortment of plus pitches. The day’s first pitch wasn’t thrown until around 4:30 — or 45 minutes later than a normal start time for a high school baseball game — because of the partial solar eclipse. Willner reached his path of totality in the first inning when he struck out the side and generated 10 swings and misses.
But he got stronger as the game progressed, and not even a pair of solar viewers could help Ridley at the plate.
An error to lead off the third inning enabled Ridley to plate its lone run. Chris Kimmel legged out an infield single to drive in Bobby Doherty with two outs to put the Green Raiders ahead 1-0.
“Losing to Conestoga on Saturday, we really needed a win to go 2-1 (in the Central League),” Willner said. “It was just a really good bounce back ‘W’ and a team effort.”
Lower Merion (4-3, 2-1) had one of its best seasons this century in 2023, advancing to the second round of the District 1 Class 6A tournament. With a deep, contact-oriented lineup — they amassed 13 hits against Ridley — the Aces could be a sleeper for the league title. And with arguably the best pitcher in the conference taking the ball every fifth day, the Aces feel optimistic about their chances this year.
The Aces have won all three of Willner ‘s three starts, including a six-inning gem in a shutout of Garnet
Valley on opening day.
“I think he definitely provides us with a confidence boost. He’s going to ECU and I think just having that level of talent, guys want to support and rise around that,” Lower Merion coach Colin Quinn said. “They know that as long as we get a few runs across the board, we’ve got a good shot to win. The offense had 13 hits today, we put the ball in play and made good things happen for us on that end. Everyone just builds together.
“When the defense is playing well and the offense is playing well
… it all kind of meshes. The guys also understand we have good relief pitching behind him as well. He went six strong today, and I almost pulled him after five because we had a long top of the sixth. I had to ask him, ‘How’s the arm?’ He always wants the ball, though. He knows his pitches well and he always knows what he wants to throw. Once you get in sync with him, he’s on fire.”
The Aces left four runners stranded in the first two innings but broke through in the third against Ridley starter Jake Manfield,
then John Teehan, one of three Green Raiders relievers. Brady Stensky jump-started a fourrun rally with a double and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Nicholas Dragut. Calvin Rendle singled and an errant throw from the outfield allowed the Aces to take a 2-1 lead. An RBI single by Mekhai Smith preceded another fielding miscue and another unearned run.
Smith is a three-sport standout who is committed to Lehigh to play football. He was a first-team All-Central League defensive back in the fall and the team’s starting quarterback.
“We know that we have the talent and the athleticism to win every single game, we’ve just got to go out there and do it,” said Smith, who added a double in the sixth inning. “This team definitely has the opportunity to go far.”
Gus Wright had a pair of singles, including a two-run knock in the sixth inning. Stensky went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Charlie Parsons reached base three times. Justin Spiegler pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts.
Elsewhere in the Central League:
SPRINGFIELD 8, STRATH HAVEN 7 »
Sean Williams hit a three-run triple in the top of the sixth to put the Cougars in front to stay. It was the first loss of the season for the Panthers (6-1, 3-1), who are the reigning Central League champions.
Williams struck out 10 in 4.2 innings of relief to earn the win. Matt Bean and Jake Adams each doubled for the Cougars (2-3, 1-3).
Ben Milligan collected two hits, Will Thompson has a double and two runs scored, and Quinn Kell added a single and two RBIs for the Panthers.
PENNCREST 7, MARPLE NEWTOWN 6 »
The Lions (5-1, 4-0) stormed back to win after trailing 4-0 in the first inning. Cooper Bittle delivered the walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
Sam Dinitz laced a two-run single and Ben Ettien went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs for the Lions. Josh Kalinowski was the winning pitcher.
Bennett Cox smashed a two-run homer for the Tigers.
Ryan McWilliams allowed only one hit after the first inning, finishing with 10 strikeouts and no walks in a complete game performance. Will Selbach started a rare 9-3 double play in the first inning and Joe Krasowski went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Raptors (2-4, 1-3).
RADNOR 7, HARRITON 2 »
CONESTOGA 5, GARNET VALLEY 4 »
Chris Schaller went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, but the Jaguars (3-2-1, 2-2) fell a run short of the Pioneers after falling behind 5-0. Eddie Cwiertniewicz added an RBI triple and Brady Thompson went 2-for-3 for GV.