The Pack is back
N-G gets first win
Nor-Gwyn’s Brandon Schaeffer struck out seven batters in his four innings of work Thursday night and was at times firmly in control of the Stony Creek lineup.
But Schaeffer was most impressive when the heat was turned up.
“I was feeling a little pressure after giving up a couple hits and they loaded the bases,” the left hander said of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning. “I just had to take a deep breath and walk off the mound. I reset myself.
“It’s a one-pitch-at-a-time mindset out there and I had to buckle down, get that first strikeout. Getting the second out really invigorated me and I was able to put them away with another slider.”
Schaeffer notched back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam, keeping the Packer lead at 10-3, and Nor-Gwyn went on to earn its first victory of the summer, an 11-7 win over the Cannons at Hostelley Field.
Schaeffer, who racked up 85 strikeouts in 2019 for Potomac State College down in West Virginia, fanned seven on Thursday night. He allowed three runs off of five hits with a pair of walks and one hit batter in notching an important ‘W’ for NG.
“Going out there, starting off, I
was just trying to get ahead of batters, change speeds,” the lefty said. “I was really working my fastball in and out and then following it up with that slider.
“I was trying to keep a good tempo out there and let my teammates make the plays behind me.”
BATS GET GOING » The Packers (1-3) were opportunistic on the base paths, early and often.
Jimmy Kustra legged out an infield single to lead off the first, Max Hittman walked, and Corey Stouffer reached on an error as Kustra raced home.
Anthony Kelly’s sac fly to right scored another run and another error by the Cannons increased the lead to 3-0.
Daryl Clark scored on a wild pitch and Dan Visnov’s RBI single provided a 5-0 lead at the end of one.
The Packers went right back to work in the second.
Billy Hittman was hit by a pitch and Kustra reached on an error to give the Pack runners at the corners.
Hittman walked to load them up.
Stouffer drew a basesloaded walk to make it 6-1, and Clark cranked a tworun double to the gap in right center to widen the gap to 8-1 Nor-Gwyn.
Ground balls by Anthony Kelly and Andrew Beshenich allowed two more runs to race home, making it 10-1.
CANNONS FIRE » Stony Creek got its run in the first off an RBI single by Brendan Looby (4-for-4).
The Cannons plated a pair in the fourth, scoring off Mike Hutchinson’s RBI single and a sac fly by Morgan D’Amico.
Schaeffer then recorded back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the bases-loaded jam.
Stony Creek (1-3) made some noise against NorGwyn’s relief in the fifth. Marquise Wood (4-for-4) continued a stellar night with a solo homer to left, and Alex Kobylinski singled and came in to score on a ground ball by Hutchinson, slicing the margin to 10-5.
Nor-Gwyn padded its lead in the sixth when Jimmy Kustra walked and scored on a wild pitch, and Wood capped the scoring for Stony Creek, knocking in two more with a double in the sixth.
FAR FROM HOME » Schaeffer, a Schuylkill High School product, commutes an hour and a half once a week for his starts with the Pack, but he doesn’t mind the trip.
“First win of the year — good to get that under our belts,” he said. “Going forward, I think this is a good stepping stone and hopefully we can keep it rolling.” UP NEXT » Stony Creek travels to Lansdale for a 7:30 p.m. game Monday and Nor-Gwyn is at Collegeville that evening at 7:30.
Nor-Gwyn 11, Stony Creek 7