Bandits respond with a vengeance, ambush Norchester

BUCKTOWN - It takes a special kind of person to take a look within and summon another level of performance when challenged.

On Friday night, following a less-than-inspired effort by the South Division leading Bandits, Exton Post 134 American Legion coach Steve Smtih called out his team, most of whom were part of winning the PIAA 2010 state championship for Henderson High School, to look across the field at a team  (2010 Pennsylvania state legion champion Spring City) that had left nothing on the field in a 2-1 win by the Red Sox.

He challenged his squad, that improved to 11-4-1 in league play and 12-7-1 overall, to dig down and play like the champions that they are.

Saturday afternoon, the Bandits marched into the home of old nemesis Owen J. Roberts, whom the Warriors beat in the 2010 state title game, and handed the Bulldogs a humiliating 13-3 thumping, fueled by a 16-hit barrage and solid pitching effort by Kyle Hooven.

“These are great kids,” said Smith. “I challenged them to focus and put all the 'larks' that they have going aside for the good of the team. My guys showed today what we are capable of. We got a great pitching job by Kyle, another young kid, and played solid defense, but the way we attacked the ball at the plate today made me the happiest. We were much more aggressive and really got after them.”

“Got after it.” is an understatement, as Exton Post 134 scored in every inning, posting single runs in the first, second and fourth innings and two in the third to stake the bandits to a 5-3 lead following Norchester scoring two runs on the only error committed by the Exton defense in the tilt.

“It was fun to come in here and beat these guys,” said center fielder and Malver Prep grad Tom Kovell. “I love playing with this team and we got it going today like I know we are capable of. A lot of our guys have some blood between them and the Roberts guys, so it’s always fun to play them.”

West Chester Henderson stand out Kyle Hooven, who took the hill for the Bandits, allowed just one earned run, a mammoth solo home run off the bat of starter Tim Ponto, on two hits, while walking two and fanning six.

“It was a big game for us,’ said Hooven, who did as much damage with the bat as he went 3-for-4, scoring two runs and driving in two on a round tripper of his own. “We don’t like them very much and they don’t like us, we have played them plenty of times over the past four years so it’s always good to get a win, but to dominate like we did today shows that we are ready for the playoffs next week.”

For Norchester, who dropped to 12-4 with the loss, it wasn’t a matter of leaving men on base, it was that they just didn’t have any runners as Hooven retired the last ten men he faced in order to close out the Bulldogs with out a whimper.

In the fifth inning the Bandits unleashed the hounds so to speak as they launched three doubles by Sullivan, Craig and Kovell, chasing Ponto and posting an 8-3 edge.

“My defense played great behind me,” added Hooven. “It was great to have the run support, it helps you relax and focus on getting ahead in the count, which always works to the pitcher’s advantage. I was able to locate my fast ball pretty well today and Zac (Sullivan) did a great job making sure I kept it out of dangerous spots.”

The floodgates opened for Post 134 in the sixth, as they built their lead to ten on a visibly whipped team, by ripping five base hits in an a frame where ten men came to the plate, closing the book on another chapter in the two teams incredible history.

“They took it to us,” said Norchester coach Rick Harrison. “We played as lifeless a game as I can remember and they came in here with a chip, we have to dig down and play our game, which we didn’t today. I give them credit they really looked like they wanted it and we acted like we were somewhere else.”

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Exton

1

1

2

1

3

5

X

13

16

1

Norchester

0

1

2

0

0

0

X

3

2

3

AB

R

H

RBI

AB

R

H

RBI

Hooven, R

4

2

2

0

Evans  ss

3

0

0

0

Hooven, K

4

2

3

2

Vining rf

2

1

0

0

Sullivan c

4

2

2

1

Patete 3b

1

1

1

0

Norton rf

4

1

1

3

Raifsnider c

2

0

0

2

Craig lf

4

2

2

1

Kochu lf

3

0

0

0

Kovell cf

4

0

2

1

Ponto p

2

1

1

1

McCormick 1b

4

1

2

1

Beohmer 1b

2

0

0

0

Jones 3b

4

1

2

1

Brady 2b

2

0

0

0

Nugent ss

2

1

0

0

Solomon cf

2

0

0

0

Totals

32

13

16

11

Totals

21

3

2

3

IP

R

ER

H

SO

BB

Ponto (L)

4.2

8

6

11

3

0

Solomon

1.2

5

3

5

2

1

Hooven (W)

7

3

1

2

6

2

2B-Patete, Hooven,K, Kovell, Craig, Sullivan   HR- Ponto, Hooven,K      LOB- EXT –5  NOR-1

time of the game 2:04   game temp 83 degrees