Down and Out
Boyertown eliminated from state tournament, falls to Downingtown, 13-2
Kenny Jarema was there three years ago when he and his team fell to Boyertown in a one-run 13-inning game during the second round of the Pa. Legion State Tournament at Bear Stadium.
On Wednesday, he and his Downingtown teammates got their redemption.
Sparked by a seven-run second inning, Downingtown beat the host Bears 13-2 in eight innings to move on to the next round and end Boyertown’s season.
“That was on our minds, definitely,” Jarema said afterward of the loss three seasons ago. “My coach (Scott Rambo) reminded us about it before the game. We knew we couldn’t let our season end against these guys. We got our revenge.”
With the win, the Region 3 champ Diamond Dogs advance to face Quakertown on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. back at Bear Stadium.
Jarema, the shortstop hitting out of the leadoff spot, finished 2-for-4 with a two-run home run during the deciding second inning. Downingtown cranked out 10 hits on the game, a stark contrast from their two-hit performance in a loss against Beech Creek the previous night.
“All it takes is a spark,” said Downingtown second baseman JJ Freeman. “That’s the way this team is. Hitting is contagious.”
Freeman kick-started the offense during the second inning. With no outs and a man on first, he ripped an RBI triple to right field to plate his team’s second run. That spark quickly ignited. Mixing in four hits, an error, a walk and two hit-by-pitches, Downingtown suddenly led 8-0 capped by Freeman’s two-run double in that same inning.
Downingtown sent 12 batters to the plate during the second, ending Boyertown starter Mike Xanthopoulos’ day after just five outs
where he was credited with eight runs (seven earned) on five hits.
On the other end, Downingtown starter Joey Zettlemoyer was in control the entire way.
The right-hander gave way to just three hits and a pair of walks through five complete. He delivered 11 firstpitch strikes to the 20 batters he faced and stranded six runners on base.
“We know we’ve got a lot of arms and a lot of depth at pitching,” said Jarema. “We’ve been able to count on our pitchers getting here, it’s just up to us to get the hits and put up some runs for them.”
Tommy Donnel went the final three innings where he allowed two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Though their pitching ran into some trouble on Wednesday, it was Boyertown’s offense that ultimately came up short.
A day after their bats were frozen on five consecutive called-strikeouts to end a 4-1 loss to Blackhawk, the Bears totaled only six hits against Downingtown. The team batting-average for the state tournament was just .169. The Bears were sat down in order four times in the tournament, three of which came against Downingtown. Nick DiCiacco came off the bench to knock in Kaleb Miller for Boyertown’s first run during the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday. Quinn Mason followed three batters later with a fielder’s choice RBI to shortstop to score DiCiacco for the Bears’ final run of the season.
The Bears sent out five different pitchers on the afternoon. Trevor Waldman — the Bears’ lone left-hander — was most effective in relief. He threw three complete innings where he allowed an unearned run with a hit and a walk.
Just over two weeks after losing the Berks County League title game against Norchester, host Boyertown had the advantage of waiting while the rest of the field played through regionals for a chance at states.
Only the Bears’ state tournament run didn’t go as planned.
Losing two consecutive for the first time in over a month, Boyertown’s season comes to a finish at 13-7 overall.
After losing their opener, the Diamond Dogs know first-hand that a few mistakes could prove costly.
“We’ve got to build off of this win,” said Freeman. “This was a good win for us, but we can’t be satisfied. Hopefully there’s still plenty more baseball left for us.”