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News of Delaware County - Haverford falls for third time to Wayne
July 15, 2009 --
By Dan McCarty
CORRESPONDENT
Three times was not a charm for seventh-seeded Haverford when it took on second-ranked Wayne in the first round of the Main Line Junior Legion playoffs last Wednesday evening. After falling to Wayne twice in the regular season, Haverford dropped a 5-4 decision.Peabody (single, double) and Henderson (two singles) both scored twice for Haverford.
“We played three close games against Wayne,” said Haverford head coach Gerry Hart. “They’ve gotten better. We gave up three runs. That was the game.”
Despite being down, 2-0 and then 4-2, Wayne came back in the third and fourth innings to get the victory.
“We were behind,” said Wayne manager Bob Bentz. “A couple of guys at the bottom of the lineup did well. Ben (Rathsmill) got an RBI double coming off the bench. Kevin (Connor) had two RBI singles and a bunt.”
The Haverford offense definitely got off to a good start. Brian Peabody led off with a double and scored on a single by Sam Henderson. Chris Pokorny followed with a single but was out at second on a double play when Tom Fior was out at first. Henderson, however, made it home to score.
Defense ruled the way in the bottom of the first and top of the second as they were both one, two, three innings. Wayne was able to get its runs back in the bottom of the second. Kyle Von Hertsenberg was hit by a pitch. Mark McGee-Pasceri singled and Colin Wright popped one to center field. Connor singled in Von Hertsenbeg as well as McGee-Pasceri for the 2-2 tie.
Offensive action continued in the third inning. Joe Kokol grounded out but Peabody singled. Henderson drove in Peabody. Pokorny popped the ball to right field but Henderson scored and Haverford took a 4-2 lead. Rathsmill came to the plate for Wayne in the bottom of the third and was hit. Mike Koerick singled and scored on McGee-Pasceri’s double to make the score a tight 4-3.
Wayne made three consecutive outs in the top of the fourth. Then it got its big break. Wright was walked. Connor doubled but Wright was out while attempting to score. Spencer Stokes grounded out and Ellis Schaefer singled. Rathsmill doubled to score Connor and Schaefer and give Wayne its first lead of the day, a lead Haverford could not overcome.
There was no more scoring from that point on. Kokol singled in the fifth and doubled in the seventh. Fior hit a single in the sixth as did Wright for Wayne nut both teams made easy outs and Wayne came off the field with the 5-4 win.
McGee-Pasceri was the winning pitcher with two strikeouts. Von Hertsenberg came to the mound and pitched the rest of the game.
“Mark started and had some bad breaks,” said Bentz. “He did a good job. Kyle has had Haverford’s number. He would shut them down.”
Connor paced Wayne with a single, a double, a run and two RBIs.
Pat Morgan pitched for Haverford and struck out three.
“He had a good game,” said Hart. “He hit two batters. They both scored. We played a good defensive game. I was happy with the offense. We lost to Wayne, 1-0, the previous Friday. We’ve played close games.”
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Wayne vs. Haverford -- News of Delaware County
June 25, 2009 --
By Dan McCarty
CORRESPONDENT
While the outcome of a baseball game is always unpredictable, it is even more so when two very talented teams are up to face each other. That was exactly the case two days ago (Monday) when Haverford hosted Wayne in a Main Line Junior Legion baseball game. As it turned out Wayne really came out ready to play and upset Haverford, 5-1.
With this win, Wayne increased its record to 7-2 and snapped its two-game losing streak. It also improved to second place in Main Line Junior Legion action.
“Sean (O’Reilly) had three RBIs,” said Wayne manager Bob Bentz. “He really set the pace.”
Haverford dropped its record to 4-5-1 and slipped to fourth place. Throughout the season, the team has definitely been playing in spurts. After winning four consecutive games, this loss gave Haverford a three-game losing streak.
“The last three games were against tough teams,” said Haverford head coach Gerry Hart. “It’s been very competitive. We couldn’t hit. The 1-0 lead was nice. We just couldn’t sustain it.”
The Haverford defense started off strong allowing for a one, two, three top of the first inning. Haverford’s Jake Peabody was hit by a pitch. Tom Fior followed with a single and Chris Pokorny singled in Peabody for the 1-0 lead.
That was the only lead of the day Haverford held and it did not last long at that. Wayne’s Andrew Seaton singled and Colin Wrightdoubled. Seaton scored on a single by O’Reilly. Wright made it home on a steal to take the lead, a lead that Wayne held throughout the game. Sam Henderson singled in the bottom of the seventh.
Defense led the way for most of the third inning despite a single by Wayne’ Ellis Schaefer and another by Fior.
Wayne’s Mike Koerick began the fourth inning with a walk. Kyle Von-Hertsenberg was hit by a pitch and Mark McGee-Pasceri singled to load the bases with no outs. Koerick was out in an attempt to steal home. Wright singled in Von Hertsenberg. Zach DiPietro was out at first in the bottom half of the inning. Vince Piccioni walked but he and Dylan Cullen were both out on a double play.
Haverford only gave up one hit in the top of the fifth as Kevin Connor accounted for a single. The team almost got a run back in the bottom of the inning as Sam Henderson walked as did Dylan Anderson. Anderson was out and second as was Pat Morgan at first on Wayne’s second double play of the game. Henderson made it all the way to third but Jesse Hat struck out to end the inning.
Anderson replaced Morgan on the mound in the sixth. Von Hertsenberg and McGee-Pasceri both singled. Seaton walked and Wright singled to score Von Hertsenberg. O’Reilly grounded out but McGee-Pasceri scored on a double by Spencer Stokes. Seaton, however, was out at home. Henderson came to the mound to pitch and Devon Bauer popped one to left field.
Wayne gave up no runs or hits in the bottom of the sixth.
Hart pitched for Haverford in the seventh. Bobby Kooms came to the plate for Wayne and was walked. Von Hertsenberg was hit by a pitch but Haverford made three outs and allowed no more runs. Von Hertsenberg came in to pitch for Mike Koerick and made three consecutive strikeouts and the game was over.
“We started slow but we got some key hits,” said Bentz. “Haverford is a tough team.”
Koerick and Von Hertsenberg (single, two runs) combined for seven strikeouts.
“Mike did well on the mound,” said Bentz. “He threw 100 pitches. Kyle came in and struck three out.”
Morgan and Hart combined for three strikeouts.
“Our pitching was very good,” said Hart. “Pat pitched great. We couldn’t get him any run support. Defense was good.”
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Wayne Wolverines take two of three this week.
June 14, 2009 --
The Wayne
Wolverines started off their week beating division rivals Glenolden and Nether
Providence to raise their record in the Main Line Division of Jr. Legion
baseball to 6-0. On Sunday they faced
their first place rival 5-0 Aston but were defeated in a great 2-1 game which
went 9 innings which is two more than the standard 7 inning game at this
level.
Wayne won a
controversial 7-6 decision over Glenolden on Thursday. Glenolden got off to
a strong start and were
cruising by a score of 6-2 going into the bottom of the 5th
inning.
Ben Rathsmill led off the 5th
with
a single which was followed with a single by Jonah Frey. With one out Michael Koerick doubled to
bring
in both runners. With two out Devin
Baver singled in Koerick to bring Wayne to within one run. After a single by Andrew Seaton and a
walk to
Kevin Connor, Collin Wright came up and worked the count to
3-2.
With all three
runners going on the
pitch Wright hit a hard grounder to the Glenolden 3rd baseman who
overthrow the first baseman leading to two runs. Two coaches from Glenolden were tossed
by the
ump when they complained that the 3rd
baseman was run into by
Seaton.
In a rematch
of their game the previous week the Wolverines defeated Nether Providence by a
score of 13-3 when the mercy rule was enforced since Wayne was up by 10 runs
after 5 innings played. Michael Koerick
pitched 4 strong innings and was relieved by Kyle Von Hertsenberg who finished
the game. Wayne totaled 15 hits led by
Ellis Schaefer who went 4-4 with a double.
Wayne then
played a game which was a battle for first place with Wayne competing against
unbeaten Aston at Neumann College. Aston
was able to score first with one run in the 1st
inning off of pitcher
Mark McGee-Pasceri. McGee-Pasceri
settled down and held the strong hitting Aston team scoreless in the four
innings that followed but Wayne was unable to put a run on the board in the
meantime. In the 6th inning
Ellis Schaefer led off with a single and promptly stole 2nd
base.
With one out Kyle
Von Hertsenberg
slugged a triple to tie the score. Von
Hertsenberg came on in relief in the 6th and the game remained a 1-1
tie going into the bottom of the 9th
inning.
Aston led off the
9th with a
walk.
On a play that was
hotly disputed
by Wayne the runner stole 2nd
base.
An intentional
walk followed and the 3rd batter in the inning
singled to load the bases. Von
Hertsenberg followed up by strucking out
the next batter and got the following batter make the 2nd out on an
easy pop up. Unfortunately for Wayne the
game ended on a miscue by the 1st
baseman leaving Aston in sole
possession of first place.
Wayne will
continue this week with a busy schedule of five games in seven
days.
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Wolverines return to their winning ways
June 9, 2009 --
The Wayne Wolverines Junior Legion baseball team returned to their winning ways with a 9-2 victory over Nether Providence at Strath Haven Middle School Sunday morning. The Wolverines are now 9-5 overall and 4-0 in their games in the Main Line Division.
The visiting Wolverines jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning after Jonah Frey led off with a single, followed by a single by Ellis Schaefer. The next batter popped out but cleanup hitter Kyle Von Hertsenberg singled to knock in Frey with one out.
In the bottom of the first starting pitcher Michael Koerick got off to a shaky start giving up a leadoff single followed by a pop up that dropped untouched in the infield for another single. The number three batter walked to load the bases with no outs and one run scored when the cleanup hitter followed with a single. Koerick proceeded to strike the next two batters out looking with nasty curve balls. It looked like the Wolverines might escape the inning giving up only one run but the following batter walked to knock in the second run of the inning before batter number eight grounded into a force play to end the inning with bases loaded.
The Wolverines tied the score in the 2nd after Ben Rathsmill walked and was replaced by pinch runner Will Schwartz who promptly stole 2nd base. Sean O’Reilly then hit a double to score Schwartz tying the game.
Starting pitcher Koerick settled down and let only one Nether Providence batter reach base on a walk over the next four innings, finishing the game with 10 strikeouts in 5 innings. Wayne kept plugging away and broke the game open with 5 runs in the 5th inning keyed by clutch singles knocking in two RBI’s each by Koerick and catcher Devon Baver. Wayne scored two insurance runs in the 7th inning to put the game away and Mark McGee-Pasceri came on to pitch the last two innings giving up no runs and striking out three batters.
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Wolverines lose 2-1 pitcher's duel to Downingtown
June 2, 2009 --
The Wayne Wolverines lost a 2-1 pitcher's duel Tuesday evening at Radnor High School Varsity Field to Downingtown.
Each team collected only 4 hits but Downingtown got the better of Wayne due to an uncharacteristic 4 errors by the home team. Wayne starting pitcher Mark McGee-Pasceri was the hard-luck loser going a strong four innings and giving up only 3 hits and one walk while striking out 3 batters but an unearned run in the 2nd inning led to the home team's defeat.
Jonah Frey came in to pitch the fifth and sixth innings giving up only one hit but a leadoff strikeout on a wild pitch in the sixth led to the batter reaching first base and eventually scoring an unearned run.
Ellis Schaefer led off the bottom of the 6th inning for the Wolverines with an infield single and made it to third base with one out after walks to Jonah Frey and Michael Koerick. Kyle Von Hertsenberg knocked in Wayne's only run of the game with a long sacrifice fly ball to center field to bring in Schaefer who tagged up from third on the play but Wayne was unable to get any closer.
Von Hertsenberg concluded the pitching for Wayne shutting out Downingtown in the 7th inning to keep the game close but Wayne was unable to mount a rally in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Wayne's record is now 8-5, they are hoping to get back on the winning track this Thursday with a home game against division rival Springfield.
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Wayne tops Narberth 6-1 for the third time this season
May 30, 2009 --
The Wayne Wolverines Jr. Legion baseball team notched a 6-1 victory
over Narberth on Saturday at Odorisio Field in Wayne. After losing their first three games of the
season the Wolverines have come back to win eight of their last nine contests
including the championship in the Radnor High School Memorial Day
Tournament. Strong pitching, great
defense and timely hitting were the keys in the game against Narberth. Michael Koerick was the starting pitcher in
the game for Wayne and went five innings giving up only one run while Billy
Greenfield got the save by blanking Narberth in the final two innings. Narberth outhit Wayne 7 to 5 but could not
stop Wayne due to six costly errors leading to five unearned runs which
nullified a strong pitching performance by Peter Siciliano.
After dropping behind by a 1-0 score in the top of the third
inning Wayne came back with two unearned runs in the bottom of the 3rd. Wayne then put the game away in the fifth keyed
by a two out triple by starting pitcher Koerick which knocked in two of the
four runs scored in the inning. Leadoff hitter
Jonah Frey contributed to the offense by going 2 for 3 with one RBI, two runs
scored and two stolen bases. Pinch
hitter Ben Rathsmill continued his remarkable streak of reaching base successfully
nine consecutive times by drawing a walk in the sixth inning. Wayne hopes to continue their winning ways
with a tough schedule of four games starting this Tuesday through this
Saturday.
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Wolverines win 3rd annual RHS Memorial Day Junior Legion Tournament
May 25, 2009 --
Top Row: Coach Bill Baver, Michael Koerick, Kyle Von Hertsenberg, Andrew Seaton, Sean O'Reilly, Kevin Connor, Mark McGee-Pasceri, Billy Greenfield, Ben Rathsmill, Coach Tom Koerick, Jonah Frey, George Lemmon, Coach Nick Caniglia.
Bottom Row: Manager Bob Bentz, David Schupper, Spencer Stokes, Ellis Schaefer, Collin Wright, Devin Baver, Bobby Koons, Will Schwartz
Missing: Ryan McCabe
Great defense, quality pitching and timely hitting were the
keys to the Wayne Wolverines championship in the third annual Radnor High
School Junior Legion Memorial Day Weekend Tournament. The tournament’ host team, the Wayne Wolverines,
started out the tournament with an 8-5 victory over Oxford on Friday evening. This brought their winning streak to four
straight. Oxford was behind after the
first inning by two runs and Wayne stretched the lead to 8-3 after four
innings. Crafty lefthander Billy
Greenfield, an 8th grader from the Shipley School, kept Oxford off
balance through five innings with a combination of breaking pitches and
pinpoint control that kept the opponents guessing. Mark McGee-Pasceri, a tenth grader at Radnor
High School, finished off Oxford with two shutout innings. Kyle
Von Hertsenberg, another 10th grader at Radnor High, led the offense
by going 3 for 3 with a double, 3 RBI’s and 3 stolen bases.
In the first game on Saturday, the Wolverines jumped on
Glenolden with 6 runs in the 2nd inning and 9 more runs in the 3rd,
winning by a final score of 16-4 in a five inning game. Spencer Stokes, a 9th grader from
the Shipley School, was the starting pitcher and Bobby Koons, a 9th
grader from Radnor High School, came on to finish the game and get the
victory. The Wolverines tallied 16 hits
with Mark McGee-Pasceri going 3 for 3
with a double, one RBI and a run scored and Ellis Schaefer, an 8th
grader at Radnor Middle School, hitting a triple with bases loaded in the 3rd
inning to break the game open. Devin Baver, a 10th grader at Radnor,
chipped in with 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI’s.
In the 2nd game on Saturday, the Wolverines again
started strong, scoring 7 runs in the first two innings and closed out Narberth
by a score of 12-3. Jonah Frey, a 9th
grader at the Shipley School, was the
starting pitcher and Ellis Schaefer relieved him for the win, with Kyle Von
Hertsenberg finishing up the game.
Collin Wright, a 9th grader from Episcopal, had a breakout
game going 4 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, a double and a triple. After
a tough start to the season I asked Collin how he was able to turn things
around. Collin told me that “I just
started to get more confidence, I had been having trouble seeing pitches so I
did a lot of BP and I just got my confidence back and was able to hit again.”
Having won the first three games of this tournament, Wayne knew
that if they could beat their Sunday morning opponent, the always tough Exton
team, they would win the tournament. Exton
was also coming into the game with a 3-0 tournament record and the winner would
be assured of being tournament champs due to their victory in head- to- head
action. With this in mind Wayne manager,
Bob Bentz , went with ace pitcher
Michael Koerick, a 9th grader from Radnor High School, as the game’s
starter. This proved to be a wise choice
with Koerick pitching a complete 7 inning game giving up only two hits and two
runs--only one of which was earned. After
the game Koerick told me that “earlier in the year my pitching fell off but I
just kept on working at it. I just kept
on listening to everything that people were telling me and used all of the
advice I can.” Spencer Stokes turned in an outstanding
defensive performance at both 2nd base and shortstop. I asked Spencer how he became such a good
fielder, and Spencer told me that “Ever since little league it’s been my
favorite aspect of the game, I’ve always been a shortstop. I usually work at
fielding in my backyard.” Sean O’Reilly,
a 9th grader at Episcopal, made multiple acrobatic plays at 1st
base which turned some potentially errant throws into outs.
The Wolverines were brought down to earth in the final game
of the tournament against a strong-hitting West Chester team with a 16-5 loss. After the final game I spoke to Kyle Von
Hertsenberg who said “I thought we played well overall, strong defense, offense
we really hit the ball. It’s not just one person, it’s a team sport.”
Prior to the
tournament I spoke to Wayne Manager, Bob Bentz, who told me that it would be
quite an achievement if his team was to go 4-1 in the tournament. After the tournament’s final game, Manager
Bentz said that “not taking anything away from West Chester, because they have
a great team we knew they and Exton would be two tough teams to beat. We got a lot of people some at bats in that
last game and that’s going to pay off later on this year because you have to be
sharp, you have to have your at bats because you never know when those guys
will need to step up and fill the shoes of someone who is injured. We are in the heart of our league games now,
and we have a tough opponent to play this week with Aston, always a very strong
team, and we have a lot of other solid teams to play in the Main Line League. Our goal is to be the Main Line League
Champions and play in the regionals.”
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