Milano, Moses Deliver Athletics Into First Place

It doesn’t take a riverboat gambler to know that a pair of fours beat a hand with nothing.

On Sunday, Phoenixville posted two four-run innings and got a sensational pitching effort from Gary Moses to defeat Lionville 8-0 and climb into a first place tie with Nochester in the North division of the Chester County League.

Moses, returning from his first year at Greensboro College in North Carolina, expected to be on the hill frequently for the Athletics, but had no idea he was joining a team that is in mid-season form and poised to contend for the league crown.

“Wow, this is great,” said Moses. “I knew that the high school team had gotten far in districts and had heard that some young guys have really stepped up, but I had no idea I would be coming into this. It is so much fun to pitch for a team that hits the ball like we have been.”

Junior catcher Jack Ashburn, who will be playing in the Carpenter Cup this week on a field named after his Hall of Fame grandfather, Richie Ashburn, continued to swing a hot bat as his first inning, bases loaded triple helped post the Athletics to a 4-0 lead, following a walk drawn by Cal Milano and singles by Tom Romano, Ryan Yenchick and Shane Allen.

“We have been hitting the ball pretty well,” said A’s manager Jack Sturgeon. “Again we got great pitching, this time from Gary, who did a great job against a team that came in here with only one league loss. Great pitching and good hitting make it easy to coach.”

Moses held the Hillcats at bay with his fastball, using location as his main weapon disarming the Lionville bats that were averaging seven runs scored a game coming into the tilt, scattering five hits while striking out three and most importantly no walks issued.

“When I have a four-run lead early like that my job is to throw strikes and keep guys off base,” added Moses. “Jack [Ashburn] did a great job behind the plate calling the game and the defense was solid, especially our outfielders as they made some good plays out there. I am psyched to be a part of such a good team as I just love playing ball with these guys. It’s going to be good summer.”

The Athletics improved to 4-1 in league play and are now in a first-place tie with Norchester, following the Bulldogs 10-0 win over Westtown on Saturday.

“It’s big to get some league wins now,” said Sturgeon. “There are going to be some weeks where we play a lot of games in a very tough league, so it is huge to get wins now and have some momentum going, It was also a pretty big deal that this was the first game Jack [Ashburn] called himself. I think he did an outstanding job."

 The other big blow on the day for Phoenixville was a grand slam in the fifth inning by another returning college player in the A’s lineup, Cal Milano, as he launched an inside fastball into the street beyond the right field fence of Doc Kennedy field.       

Having started the inning with three consecutive base hits by Shae Ferguson (1-for-4, run), Yenchick (3-for-4, 2 runs scored) and a bunt single by Romano (2-for-4, 2 runs) Lionville starter Jason Gallagher had no choice but to challenge Milano, who crushed the 1-1 offering.

“He gave me a fastball middle in,” said Milano. “It felt great as it left the bat. I think that’s the second home run I have ever hit here. I can’t believe how much fun this is right now. The young guys are playing great and I can’t remember ever having so much depth at pitcher. I usually end up getting called on to pitch, which is not a good thing.”

Moses closed out the Hillcats in the seventh, recording a strike out of Lionville right fielder Drew Taylor on just his 81st pitch of the game to secure the win for the Athletics in a game that took only an hour and 30 minutes to play, in which catcher Ashburn got to call the game from behind the plate.

“I am pretty excited right now,” said Ashburn of his prospects of playing in the Carpenter Cup this week and his first game called. “I was happy to be able to call the game. I have asked for a while to do it, as I know all of our pitchers very well and each of their personalities. It will also make it easy when they pitch like Gary did today. Playing on Ashburn Field in the Cup will be pretty cool. I am looking forward to it.”

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Lionville

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

5

2

Phoenixville

4

0

0

0

4

0

X

8

11

1

Lionville Hillcats

AB

R

H

RBI

Phoenixville A’s

AB

R

H

RBI

Boorman   cf

3

0

0

0

Ferguson rf

4

1

1

0

O’Connell  2b

3

0

2

0

Yenchick lf

4

2

3

0

Regan lf

2

0

0

0

Romano cf

4

2

2

0

Alba ss

3

0

1

0

Milano 3b

2

2

2

4

Jackman 3b

3

0

0

0

Allen  ss

3

1

1

1

Ficca c

2

0

0

0

Ashburn c

2

0

1

3

Sarpan dh

2

0

1

0

Hershey 1b

3

0

0

0

Sheridan 1b

2

0

0

0

Ammon dh

3

0

0

0

Taylor rf

2

0

0

0

Sierzega 2b

3

0

1

0

Listmieir  cf

0

0

0

0

Kawchak rf

0

0

0

0

Wieser  lf

1

0

1

0

Little  ss

0

0

0

0

McElweene c

1

0

0

0

Moses p

0

0

0

0

Ficca cf

1

0

0

0

Steffy 1b

1

0

0

0

Von Berge rf

1

0

0

0

Totals

27

0

5

0

Totals

28

8

11

8

IP

R

ER

H

SO

BB

Gallagher (L)

5

8

8

10

2

2

Kozlowski

1

0

0

1

0

0

Moses (W 1-0)

7

0

0

5

3

0

2B-none  3B-Ashburn   HR- Milano (1)      LOB- LION-4     PHX-4 

time of the game 1:32       game temp 80 degrees