Collegeville Devils Fall to Norchester's Big Dawgz, 9-3

On Tuesday night, Mother Nature provided the lightning to compliment the thunder of Jake Riehs’ bat, as Collegeville jumped out to a 3-0 lead over perennial Twin County League power Norchester, before the weather prevented him from hitting for the cycle and doused hopes of a Devils comeback, in a weather-shortened 9-3 loss to the Big Dawgz.

Collegeville Coach Ryan Hinkle, in his first year as the club’s manager, was happy with what he saw from his young squad. The Devils are in the middle of building a program, and there are bound to be a few bumps along the way.

“In a non-league game against a team like Norchester, which has had a tradition of winning, it’s important to see how we respond,” said Hinkle. “I thought we played well defensively and got an outstanding effort from starter Austin Lee (3.3 IP, 4 ER, 3K, 5BB, 3H), who pitched three-and-a-half innings without allowing a hit.”

After posting a single run in the first inning, the Devils (6-8 league, 9-10 overall) extended the lead to three in the third inning. Riehs, who singled in his first trip to the plate, roped a double in the gap and stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Liam Grande (1-for-2, RBI). Grande was followed by sophomore Eric Gaines, who crushed a solo home run over the wall in left center.

“I felt it off the bat pretty well,” said Gaines. “He got a fastball up and I was able to get all of it. It hung up there for a while and I thought, 'I better run,' but then it cleared the fence by a bunch. I think we did a great job in the field tonight, but we still need to hit more consistently.”

The Devils had Dawgz starter Stephen Muscovitch, who allowed two earned runs, five hits, while allowing no walks and fanning six, on the ropes early on but could not take advantage and following a nine run fourth inning outburst, Collegeville suddenly found itself in a hole.

“I was able to hit my spots pretty well tonight,” said Muscovitch. “My fastball was definitely my best pitch, even though I did use my curve some. It was huge for us to put that big inning together. As a pitcher it lets you relax when you know your guys are hitting behind you.”

After only having three base runners the first time through the lineup, it was Noah Beebe who got things going with a lead off double in the fourth. The first base hit off Devils starter Austin Lee and was driven in two pitches later by Chase Line. Line, along with Beebe, recorded two hits in the fourth inning, driving in three runs in the frame.

In the fourth inning, seven different Big Dawgz batters drove in a run, with Ben Condello being the only one to do so without a hit. Condello launched a sacrifice fly to score Blake McCourt.

Following the Norchester uprising, Riehs was at it again as he smoked a ball to the wall in left center for a triple, putting him one round-tripper away from hitting for a natural cycle.

“I’m not usually a home run guy,” said Riehs, who attends . “But if I came with a chance I may have taken a couple big swings before just trying to get a hit. I just look to get a base hot every time I am up. Tonight I was just seeing the ball very well and able to hit his fastball.”

It took a diving sprawling catch by Norchester centerfielder Ben Condello, with two outs, in dead center field on a drive by Collegeville shortstop Grande to prevent Riehs from scoring.

“That’s the kind of player that Ben is,” added Long. “He is a guy that sparks the team and plays the game the way it’s meant to be played. It is so great to have such assets on the team like him and Tony Gruenling, who is another guy that just gives 150 percent all the time. Chase and Noah also did a phenomenal job tonight hitting the ball.” 

“We are still establishing a program and really trying to build a foundation,” added Hinkle. “I am very proud of the way we played in the field tonight, and at this point in the year it was good to get some strong innings as pitching is always the key. We have some work to do, but we are definitely on the right track and playing a team of this caliber is a good measure of where we want to be.”

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Collegeville

1

0

2

0

0

X

X

3

5

1

Norchester

0

0

0

9

0

X

X

9

9

1

AB

R

H

RBI

AB

R

H

RBI

Keller  cf

3

0

0

0

Salerno 2b

0

0

0

0

Riehs rf

3

2

3

0

Condello  1b p

2

0

0

1

Grande ss

3

0

1

1

Clay  c

1

0

0

0

Gaines 1b

2

1

1

1

Beebe  lf

3

2

2

1

Krause 3b

2

0

0

1

Rumer rf

1

0

0

0

Kramer  lf

2

0

0

0

Endy p lf

3

0

1

2

Lasorda dh

2

0

0

0

Muscovitch p

3

1

1

1

Giorgio  c

2

0

0

0

Anderson  ss

1

1

1

0

Light  2b

2

0

0

0

Raymond 3b

1

0

0

0

McCourt 2b

3

1

1

1

Zeborowski c

2

1

1

1

Line rf

2

2

2

3

McCourt, C  3b

1

1

0

0

Totals

21

3

5

3

Totals

23

9

9

1

IP

R

ER

H

SO

BB

Lee (L)

3.1

5

4

3

3

5

Cullen

1.2

4

4

6

0

0

Muscovitch (W)

5

3

2

5

6

0

2B-Beebe, Riehs   3B-Riehs   HR- Gaines       LOB- Nor -3     Coll-3    DP -Coll (1)

time of the game 1:38 called due to weather      game temp 82 degrees