Doylestown outlasts Nor-Gwyn in 7 innings
Just about everybody had a hand in this one, while Gabe Amendola’s right arm delivered not once but twice.
Amendola came on to pitch two scoreless innings, striking out a pair with the bases loaded in the sixth, and Doylestown battled its way to a 7-6 victory over Nor-Gwyn on a hot afternoon on the diamond at Hostelley Field Saturday.
“We needed that,” said Amendola, who had four strikeouts in recording the win. “It felt good to bounce back and get into a groove. It really felt we were a team today.”
With playoffs on their minds,
D-town raised its record to 4-5, with a home game against unbeaten Upper Moreland coming up on Tuesday.
“It was a really good win. They battled,” Doylestown assistant coach Anthony Correra said of his squad. “It’s very big, keeps us in the running for the playoffs and that’s what we’re looking towards. I’m real proud of the kids.”
“We needed that. It felt good to bounce back and get into a groove. It really felt like we were a team today.” – Gabe Amendola
With the score deadlocked at six, Ryan Sullivan smacked a one-out double for Nor-Gwyn (2-5) in the bottom of the sixth. Alex Smith followed with a single and A.J. Bertucci drew a walk to load the bases.
Facing the meat of the Hawk lineup, Amendola was undaunted, striking out John Milligan (3-for-4) and Ben Criger (2-for-4) to get out of the jam.
Asked what was working best for him, Amendola replied: “my fastball definitely. My slider was pretty high today, wasn’t really connecting.
“My fastball and two-seam fastball seemed to work today, especially the inside ones.
They weren’t really chasing those and they worked for me.”
UP CAME DOYLESTOWN. » With two outs and one on, Josh Shiller ripped a double down the third-base line, scoring Tommy Donnelly (walk) to put the visitors ahead, 7-6.
“Clutch hit by Josh,” Amendola said. “And Tommy making that catch from short was big.”
That would come in the bottom half, as Donnelly tracked down a tricky popup to get the first out of the seventh.
Amendola did the rest, recording back-to-back strikeouts to end it.
“(The offense) was a little shaky here and there but we came around, played really well,” Correra said. “The pitching came around too. (Starter) Josh (Shiller) did a good job (and went five innings) and Gabe came in and cleaned things up for us.”
EARLY JUMP » Nor-Gwyn bolted to a 3-0 lead in its second at-bat.
Milligan doubled to center and then scored on an RBI single by Criger.
Criger scored on a ground ball by Jake Bruno, and the Hawks pushed another run across on an error to make it 3-0.
Doylestown came right back.
The visitors tied things up in their next at-bat, courtesy of a two-run double by Tony DeMichael and a ground ball by Shiller that scored DeMichael.
The visitors went ahead 4-3 in the fourth on an RBI single by Sean O’Connor and manufactured a pair of runs in the fifth, taking advantage of a pair of walks and an error by the Hawks.
Down 6-3, Nor-Gwyn tied things up in the fifth. John Milligan’s chopper to center and an RBI double by Criger helped even things at six apiece.
Shiller’s double down the line scored the run Doylestown would need, and Amendola protected it.
Doylestown hosts Upper Moreland Tuesday and Nor-Gwyn is at Harleysville on Monday. Doylestown 7, Nor-Gwyn 6