Yoelson-Angeline steers Princeton past Lawrence
LAWRENCE » Zachary YoelsonAngeline wishes he could bottle the way he pitches Friday night and keep using it whenever he takes the mound.
The Princeton High rising senior had a tough first inning against Lawrence Post 414 in Princeton Post 218’s game at Mike Pezzicola Field in Eggerts Crossing Park.
Then everything changed dramatically.
After giving up two runs and walking three in that first inning, the left-handed pitching Yoelson-Angeline struck out Colin D’Angelo with the bases loaded to escape further damage.
Little did he know that would be the start of 15 straight batters he’d retire.
Post 414 came back with three consecutive hits between the sixth and seventh innings, but Yoelson-Angeline reached back to strike out the side in the final inning to deny the home team and give Post 218 its second win of the 2017 Mercer County American Legion League season, 7-2.
“I didn’t feel comfortable PRINCETON
abr Dudeck cf 3 1 Ramsay 2b 4 0 Sumners 1b 3 2 Silverman c 2 0 Kaul cr 0 2 YlsnAgln p 4 1 Seals 3b 4 0 Duffy 2b 4 0 Kaufman rf 4 0 IFranzoni lf 2 1 Totals 30 7
Princeton (2-7) Lawrence (4-5)
hbi 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 8 6 LAWRENCE
abr hbi Cutaneo c 4 0 0 0 Kop 2b 3000 Kmiec cf 2100 Admczk lf 3110 Sullivan 1b 2 0 1 0 Russo rf 3022 Mains p 0000 Castoral p 2 0 1 0 D’Anglo 3b 3 0 0 0 Hiner ss 3000 Totals 25 2 5 2 E — Hiner, Kop 2; LOB — Princeton 8, Lawrence 5; 2B — Yoelson-Angeline; SB — Duffy, Dudeck, Sumners 2, Franzoni, Sullivan 2, Russo 2; CS — Ramsay, Dudeck.
IP PRINCETON POST 218 YlsnAnglneW,1-1 7.0 LAWRENCE POST 414
Mains L,0-1 2.2 5 3 0 Castoral 4.1 3 4 3 HbP- by Castoral (Sumners); WP — Mains.
HR 5
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2
ER BB SO 2 3
2 2 8
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out there in the first inning,” Yoelson-Angeline said. “From the second inning on, I got my front leg forward more. It seemed to give me extra strength. I feel like this win was six months in the making.”
Yoelson-Angeline used his legs and bat to cause problems for 4-5 Lawrence.
After a two-out error got the visitors on the board in the third inning, Alec Silverman and Yoelson-Angeline came through with run-scoring singles to put Princeton (27) in front.
Despite silencing Post 414’s bats for what amounted to five innings straight, Yoelson-Angeline and his teammates saw Lawrence get a chance to tie the game when Ryan Sullivan and Anthony Russo smacked consecutive singles with two outs in the sixth.
Sullivan and Russo pulled off a double steal. As catcher Silverman’s throw went into left field on the play, Sullivan and third baseman Owen Seals got tangled up at third base before Sullivan decided to try to score.
But left fielder Ian Franzoni gunned him down at the plate to keep the score at 3-2 after the umpires ruled that the contact at third base was incidental.
“We came out swinging today,” said Russo, who had two of Post 414’s five hits against Yoelson-Angeline. “As the game went on, I think we had trouble finding it against him. And they were fielding the ball well.”
Yes, a Post 218 team which committed four errors the first time it played Lawrence (a 14-2 loss June 15) played error-free ball behind their pitcher.
“When we took the lead, it helped my mentality,” Yoelson-Angeline said. “Our team played great defense behind me, which helped even more. This is the mentality we have to have going forward.”
That hungry mentality showed in the top of the seventh when Yoelson-Angeline came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. He belted a double to the fence in right-center field to give his team more breathing room.
It was a far cry from the way the game started when Russo singled in two after YoelsonAngeline walked Jake Kmiec and Sullivan around a single by Tanner Adamczyk. Opposing pitcher Ryan Mains also drew a walk after Russo’s single, but Yoelson-Angeline did not issue another free pass the rest of the way, while also striking out eight, including the side in the bottom of the seventh after Lawrence’s second pitcher Ryan Castoral singled and stole second base.
“It was a mental thing for us as a team today,” Russo said. “We have to shake this off and come out tomorrow playing the way we can.”