Mellon tosses one-hitter as Red Sox win showdown of division leaders

Spring City center fielder Ken Pierson said it best following Friday night’s 2-1 Spring City win over Exton Post 134 in a Chester County League American legion battle.

“We love playing baseball together,” said Pierson, who was part of the Centennial Conference champion squad from Johns Hopkins University this spring. “I could not wait to get started. I am so proud of how well these guys played for the high school team, but our legion team is something special, we all want to be here and we have played together for so long, it’s a part of us.”

Following a night where the Red Sox battled back from a five-run deficit to claim a win over Lionville, left-hander Josh Mellon, who will be attending Millersville in the fall, took the hill for Post 602 and delivered a masterpiece, allowing just one hit and one earned run in a complete-game effort.

“We have had a lot of games in a short time,” said Spring City coach Jamie Scheck. “We absolutely needed an effort like that from Josh, as we have a couple of guys battling through some injuries. He has been great all season so far. In the past two weeks he has beaten Norchester, Caln and now Exton, those are three quality teams.”

Scheck was not the only manager heaping praise in the direction of the defending Pennsylvania state champion Red Sox, as Bandits manager Steve “Smittie” Smith was quick to compliment despite the tough loss.

“Man I love that (Ricky) Gorrell kid, I wish I had a few of him on my team,” said Smith, in his seventh year as the Bandits’ manager. “Here is a kid that hits a one hopper back the mound and is chewing his own teeth off busting it to first. They (Spring City) play the game the way it’s meant to be played.”

Smith, who was notified by his scheduled starting pitcher that he would not be in attendance as he was making a trip to the beach, had nothing but admiration for the manner in which Post 602 carried themselves and the effort they put forth.

“There is a reason that they are successful,” said Smith. “They all play for each other and are committed to the team. Until we have a culture in place where the team’s best interest is a priority and our players give the type of commitment that teams like Spring City do, we will always be close to teams like that but never beat them.” 

Spring City got on the board early as Gorrell and Pierson drew first-inning walks with two outs to set the table for Cody Clarke, who roped a double, plating the only two runs the Red Sox would score in the tilt.

Mellon, who allowed one earned run when a leadoff walk to Zac Norton came back to bite him in the second inning as Tim Craig drove in Norton with the only base hit of the game for the Bandits, settled in and did not allow more than one base runner in the remaining five innings.

“I was able to put my curve ball in spots that I wanted,” said Mellon. “I get up for games against a team like them, I think it’s like an adrenaline thing that just gives me a boost when we play the better teams in the league. I am very competitive and I really like the pressure of big games.”

With the majority of Exton’s line up being filled with members of the 2010 West Chester Henderson Warriors team that played for the state championship, Mellon and the Red Sox defense had their work cut out protecting a one run lead.

The Bandits, who lead the South division with a record of 10-4-1, managed to work one walk in five consecutive innings, but could not muster a base hit to advance a runner beyond second base, stranding three for the entire game as three were eliminated by two twin-killings and a pick-off my Mellon.  

“I was a little amped up and nervous to start the game,” said Exton starter Chas McCormick, a member of the West Chester Henderson championship squad. “I was able to hit spots with my fastball and used the fact that they are such an aggressive lineup to get some first and second pitch swings, which led to some quick innings and got us back in batting. They are a very good, disciplined-hitting team and holding them to two runs tonight my defense did a great job.”

The Red Sox, who improved to 13-1 and lead the North division, will actually be receiving two additional wins in the next few days as a result of Conestoga, who the Spring-Ford squad lost the state championship to, defaulted by forfeiting their third game of the season and according to league bylaws, that forfeits the season and all remaining games.

“My defense played unbelievable tonight,” added Mellon. “We turned two double plays and at had at least three other really difficult plays, which kept them from scoring. As a pitcher, when my offense gets me a couple of runs early and the defense plays like they did, my job is to just throw strikes and stay ahead of hitter, which I was able to do tonight.”

Setting up hitters with an effective fastball, Mellon was able to get the Bandits batters to chase after balls that were flirting with the strike zone, but not in a spot that could allow them to cause any damage, even though he walked five and ran deep counts on more than a dozen batters, Mellon struck out eight and gave up just the one hit to claim the win.

“It’s great to win games by scoring 10 runs,’ said Scheck. “These are the kind of games we need to win come playoff time, there is definitely a pride factor as we wear those patches (2010 Pennsylvania State Champion) on our jerseys, we know teams are marking us and it just never gets to these guys. They believe in each other and themselves that even when they are down they are going to win, and when we are winning they do not let up.”