Slow start dooms PV
ROYERSFORD >> Downingtown scored two runs in the top of the first inning and led the rest of the way in a 7-3 win over Perk Valley in the first round of the Region 3 tournament Friday morning at Ram Stadium at Spring-Ford High School.
The Diamond Dogs did most of their offensive damage in the first two innings.
Jack Dovidio and Dylan DiRocco each had two-out RBI singles in the first inning and Kevin Small and Dovidio plated runs in the second. Downingtown also had runs score on a wild pitch and a balk in the second.
“Everyone was seeing the ball well,” Small said. “Everyone was hitting the ball — line drives all over the place. It really helped me get into my groove (pitching) as the game went on.”
“It was tough to get into a hole like that,” PV manager Tim Tyson said, “especially against a good team. “I thought we played pretty well, they just hit the ball. They made the plays in the field. They put us in the hole and forced us to come back and we just couldn’t do it today.”
Downingtown added another run in the sixth when Tommy Eliason scored from second on a Dovidio sacrifice bunt.
Small started and earned the win for Post 475. In 4 1/3 innings the lefty struck out five batters to
four walks and allowed one run on three hits.
“I was working with fastball and curve,” Small said. “Curveball was working really well, keeping it down low in the zone. They were swinging at it, so I just kept with that, working with two strikes most of the time.
“The defense played really well today. All behind me we didn’t make any errors. It was just a good defensive day for all of us.”
Cole Whitton took the loss for the Raiders. He allowed six runs on six hits in two innings, striking out one batter to three walks.
In relief, Zach Hollenbach allowed one run over four innings for PV. He struck out six batters to two walks and gave up three hits.
The Raiders first run came in the bottom of the first. Chris Pow walked, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and to third on a single before crossing the plate on an Ethan Crovetti groundout, cutting their
deficit to 2-1.
They added two more in the sixth. Sam Mikesic scored on a wild pitch and Tyler Haywood doubled home Logan Carney, making it a 7-3 game.
“We just couldn’t string anything together,” Tyson said. “We seemed to get a couple hits here or there, we just couldn’t get anything going. Even if we did get a walk, we couldn’t follow it up with a hit. We have to execute when we have guys on base. If we have to put a bunt down, we have to be able to get a bunt down. We just didn’t
do that today.”
Downingtown advances to the winner’s bracket, where it will face the winner of Bristol and Roslyn Saturday at 4 p.m.
In the loser’s bracket, Perk Valley will face the loser of Bristol and Roslyn in an elimination game Saturday at 10 a.m.
“The one good thing is with these guys we have a very deep pitching staff,” Tyson said. “I think we’re going to be OK with that, but it definitely makes it very tough to come out of (the loser’s bracket) after day one.”