High School Baseball: D'Ambrosio Fans 10 in 10-2 Rout of Phantoms

Phantoms Manager Jack Sturgeon said it best following Wednesday night's inter-divisional 10-2 loss to Perkiomen Valley.

“They just outplayed us on many levels,” said Sturgeon. “I have to credit Perkiomen Valley. They played a great game and exposed a couple of our weaknesses. They outhit, outran and out-pitched us, and basically they outworked us.”

Following a disappointing loss to Spring-Ford last Monday, it was paramount for the Vikings to get off to a good start and they did.

Perk Valley (2-2 league) got on the board in the first as Andrew Kenney drove in Nick Koffel, who had led off the game by drawing a walk and advanced on a wild pitch to get into scoring position.

“I have been happy with the way we have been playing,” said Vikings manager Dave Feight. “It was big for us to get off to quick start tonight, if for no other reason to get our guys confidence back. It’s been hard as we have not gotten on the field in the last week except when we are playing games, it makes it hard to work through stuff.”

 The Vikings struck again in the second as Kenny Wolf smoked a triple to drive in Dave Leggieri who had reached base by drawing a walk, then scored as Koffel hustled down the forcing an errant throw from third on a slow roller.

Phoenixville (2-2) cut into the Perk Valley lead in the second inning as Colin Ammon delivered with two down, slicing a double down the line scoring Tony Sierzega, who had singled and stolen a base to get into scoring position, Ammon was stranded at second as Vikings starter Ryan D’Ambrosio struck out his pitching counterpart Mike Jones swinging.

D’Ambrosio was stellar and virtually unhittable, after he settled in, allowing just one hit after the third inning on frigid, blustery night.

“I thought Ryan did an outstanding job,” added Feight. “He ended up with a much higher pitch count than I would have liked, but he was so in control in the later innings I had to let him finish it out.”

The Phantoms had no answer for the Perkiomen Valley right hander, who is being recruited by the U.S. Naval Academy, once he settled in after the third inning, as “Ryhno” fanned 10 Phoenixville batsmen, while walking three.

“My job is to get us back in the dugout hitting," said D’Ambrosio. “I have total confidence if I take care of my end on the mound that my guys are going to put runs up on the board.”

Perk Valley was able to run at will all night as they pilfered six bases. Three consecutive Vikings runners stole on the first pitch in the pivotal sixth inning, which led to scoring opportunities that the Vikings took full advantage of, posting two runs in the fourth and four runs in the sixth to salt the game away.

“We thought about pitching out," said Phantoms Coach Jack Sturgeon. “We need to work with our pitcher and catchers on keeping runner tighter to the bag, they (PV) really did a great job exploiting that tonight.”

Senior shortstop Andrew Kenney delivered the final nail in the Phantoms' coffin in the sixth inning with a two-out double clearing the bases to boost the Vikings lead to 9-2, then scored the 10th run of the night.

Perkiomen Valley will need consistency out of its three-headed pitching monster of Mario Lanza, Kenny Wolf and D’Ambrosio if they hope to compete for the Pac-10 title.

“Andrew has been swinging the bat very well,” said Feight. “We are hoping to actually get something from on the mound later in the year. He is working back and may not get there, but it would be huge to have him in a set up or closing role as we get closer to the playoffs.”  

Leading 6-2, D’Ambrosio had to sit on the ice-cold bench as his Vikings mates batted for 20 minutes, scoring four run in the home sixth. However, it didn’t faze the Perk Valley junior, who has learned a lot from the pressure situations he was put in last season. D’Ambrosio quickly retired the Phantoms in the seventh to close out the game and send the fans scurrying to the warmth of the cars.

“Our offense did a great job tonight,” said D’Ambrosio. “I felt good about my fastball tonight and my curve was working well. They are pretty aggressive up there, which I used to my advantage. This was big win for us tonight; it gets us back on track.”

“Last year Ryan and Kenny (Wolf) got into a lot of games,” said Feight. “It really helped them, and they have both matured so much because of it. We have Mario (Lanza), who has been in the leadership role since he was sophomore, Kenny and Ryan, which gives us a chance to win against anyone.”

Phoenixville                  0  1  1    0  0  0   0   - 2

Perkiomen Valley       1  2  0    2  1  4   X  - 10

Phantoms                                 AB            R            H            RBI

Kaye                                        3            0            1            0

Sierzega                                   4            1            1            0

Romano                                   4            0            0            0

Allen                                        1            0            0            0

Ammon                                    3            0            1            1

Jones                                        2            0            1            0

Fina                                          1            0            0            0

Wheel                                      3            1            1            0

Nattle                                       3            0            1            1         

Naile                                        3            0            1            0

Vikings                         AB            R            H            RBI

Koeffel                         1            3            0            0

Lanza                                       4            2            3            0

Kenney                                    4            1            2            4

Malantonio                               4            0            0            2

Strass                                       4            0            1            1

Squartino                                  3            0            2            0

Jabs                                         0            0            0            0         

Leggieri                                    1            2            1            0

Moriarty                                   0            0            0            0

Wolf                                         1            0            1            1

Klein                                        2            0            0            0

D’Ambrosio                             2            0            0            1

Duhaney                                   0            1            0            0

Martin pr                                  0            0            0            0

Pitching                                    IP            R            ER            H            SO            BB

D’Ambrosio                             7            2            2            7            10            3

Jones                                        5            6            4            7            6            4

Fina                                          1            4            3            2            0            3

2B- Ammon, Kenney  3B- Wolf, Wheel