W.C. Henderson hammers PV
WEST CHESTER » Any baseball team that plays West Chester Henderson knows it is going to be a struggle to contend with the Warriors starting pitching and their potent lineup. Perkiomen Valley found that out Friday morning as the host Warriors got another sterling pitching performance from Eddie Smink and the offense erupted for nine runs in the third inning as the Warriors defeated the Vikings 12-0 in five innings in a District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal.
The win puts West Chester Henderson into the PIAA tournament and the District 1 6A Final Four next Tuesday against Pennsbury (4-1 winner over Souderton in Friday quarterfinal).
The No. 9 seed Vikings go into the consolation bracket where they will have to win two games to qualify for the PIAA tournament. They will visit No. 2 Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday.
Perkoimen Valley (157) got runners on against Smink in the first and second innings, running some deep counts but Smink was able to hold the Vikings off the board. Then the top-seeded Warriors offense took over.
“I was having a little trouble getting into a rhythm early in the game,” Smink said. “I was not hitting my spots as well as I would have liked. But then I went to the stretch full time and started to find my location. And our offense really came through for me. That is why we work so hard everyday in practice and that is why our defense is so good.”
After the Warriors (211) plated a run off Vikings starter Ashton Mehler in the bottom of the second inning on a RBI double by Ethan Giangiulio, the Warriors exploded in the bottom of the third inning.
West Chester Henderson sent 11 batters to the plate, and chased Mehler from the game. Zach Klein started things off for the Warriors by lining a single to left field. Kevin Wheeler then roped an RBI double to left center field and the Warriors had a 2-0 lead.
Eric Lintelman continued the hit parade by roping another RBI double and then Dean O’Neill unloaded a high and far two run homer that cleared the left field fence with ease and the Warriors had a 4-0 advantage still with no one out.
“I feel if we could have gotten a couple of those runners across the plate early things may have been different,” Perkiomen Valley assistant coach Andrew Miller said. “But give Henderson credit. They hit the ball hard against our starter and our relievers. They are a very good team.”
The hit parade was not over for the Warriors after O’Neill’s bomb. Smink laced a double to left field, one of his three hits on the day, to put a man on second base with no one out. Dylan Grim made the first Warriors out by lining out to center field with Smink going to third base.
Brett McCartney then ripped an RBI single and then Giangiulio reached on a an error. Klein followed with his second hit of the inning, this one two run double and the Warriors rout was on. The scoring ended when Wheeler lofted a sacrifice fly to center and the Warriors had a commanding 10-0 lead.
With Smink setting the Vikings down in the fourth inning, the Warriors offense put two more runs up in the bottom of the fourth. O’Neil led off by getting plunked with a pitch. Smink then ripped a double and after Grim popped out for the first Warriors out, McCartney plated a run by grounding out to second base and the Warriors were well on their way to the district’s Final Four.
Smink set down the Vikings in the top the fifth inning as he ended the game by striking out Tyler Bocelli with two Vikings on base. It was his seventh strikeout of the game and the Warriors had a very impressive 12-0 victory in a five inning mercy rule game.