Quakers continue to enjoy a 'turnaround” season with win against 20th win

Posted 5/7/12

[caption id="attachment_13252" align="alignright" width="300" caption="T.J. Pagan prepares for his start for Penn Charter. (Photo by Jody Kessler)"] [/caption] by Jody Kessler After a couple of down …

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Quakers continue to enjoy a 'turnaround” season with win against 20th win

Posted

[caption id="attachment_13252" align="alignright" width="300" caption="T.J. Pagan prepares for his start for Penn Charter. (Photo by Jody Kessler)"][/caption]

by Jody Kessler

After a couple of down years for the Penn Charter baseball team, 2012 has been a great success.

While 4-3 in the InterAc league, the team is 20-5 overall after a win Saturday, May 5, versus Pottsgrove.

The resurgence comes in coach Jon Cross’s first season on the job. Saturday saw a nice mix of good pitching, and playing small ball offensively. Sophomore T. J. Pagan started on the mound for the Quakers, and went two innings, giving up one run. J

unior Ted Foley then came in, going four innings and also giving up only one run. Jared Massaro finished the job off, working a scoreless seventh to cap the 6-2 win.

Tucker Colton hit a two run double in the first inning and Jordan DellaValle had three sacrifice flies to power the offense.

After Pagan gave up a run in the top of the first, PC came back with the two in the bottom of the inning.

With one out Demetrius Jennings and DellaValle hit back-to-back singles. Then after Massaro flew out to right field, Colton crushed a Jeff Adams offering over the left fielder's head. By the time it landed, Jennings and DellaValle were well on their way to scoring.

After Pagan got the Falcons 1-2-3 with two strikeouts in the second, the Quakers struck for two more.

Seniors Gian Regni and John Charlton led off the inning with back to back singles. Nick Lamb then sacrificed them over. Lead-off hitter Steven Cohen was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and then Jennings drew a walk to force in a run.

Then DellaValle came up with the first of his three sacrifices, all line shots right at the center fielder. Foley took over from there, allowing only one hit in four innings for the win. The Quakers picked up insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings, each time by DellaValle scoring Cohen with sac flies.

That’s definitely a new one,” DellaValle said. “I said to the guys when I came to the bench that’s got to be a school record.”

Coach Cross was pleased with his team's effort.

We were able to manufacture some runs, played some good baseball, put down some bunts,” he said. “Our pitchers did enough to keep us in the game. We were going to go with Pagan for a couple innings, Foley in the middle. Massaro been closings a lot of games for us, I thought it worked well.

The season’s going great,” he continued. “I would like to do a little better in the league, but to have 20 wins now with a lot more games to go... We’ve been playing good team ball. A lot of guys have contributed, it’s a testament to a strong senior class and to some talented young kids.”

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