DALLAS TWP. — Valley View didn’t need to clear the fence or shoot the gaps to win on Monday. Patient eyes and active feet on the basepaths did the trick.
A big fourth inning came in handy for Valley View and proved to be Township’s undoing, as Valley View scored seven times to take a commanding lead on their way to an 11-2 win over Township in a Section 5 8-10 Baseball elimination game.
Those 11 runs came on just four hits for Valley View, but nine drawn walks and several stolen bases helped keep the line moving as Township simply ran out of gas and pitching on their third consecutive day of play.
“We’ve worked on that since the day we started, we want to be patient at the plate,” said Valley View manager Stan Buczynski. “And we practice being aggressive on the bases.”
It was Township striking first, taking a 2-0 lead after a two-run single from Caden Rossi in the top of the second. Valley View got one back in the home half of the third, Jack Zadarosni reaching on error and scoring on a wild pitch.
Then, the floodgates opened in the fourth: after chasing Township starter Anthony Argento from the game, the Valley View hitters took advantage of shaky command from two Township relievers to score seven times, taking an 8-2 lead.
A one-out double from Talon Prutzman and a base hit from AJ Moyles were the only hits in the inning, with runs scoring on two bases-loaded walks, a fielding error and a handful of wild pitches.
Valley View would draw three more walks and send three more runs home in the fifth inning, and Township couldn’t muster much offense of their own.
Prutzman pitched five excellent innings to earn the win for Valley View, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and striking out 10 batters.
Brady Scoblick closed the win out with a scoreless top of the sixth, sending Valley View on to the Section 5 championship.
Township’s season ends with a District 16 championship and a third-place finish in the Section 5 tournament.
“It’s a tough tournament, it’s game after game after game … pitching is tough,” Township manager Charles Henries said. “It’s a young group, and they never gave up. … It’s the beautiful thing about this team.”
Valley View will play Back Mountain National at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and a win there would force a winner-take-all game for the Section 5 title on Wednesday.
Back Mountain National, who defeated Valley View 6-5 on the opening day of the tournament, needs just one win to be crowned Section 5 champions.
Section 5 8-10 Baseball
Valley View 11, Township 2
Township`AB`R`H`BI
Skula 2b`2`0`0`0
Argento p`2`0`0`0
Henries ss`2`0`0`0
Oliveri 1b`2`1`0`0
Sperazza c`1`1`1`0
Rossi 3b`2`0`1`2
Martinez eh`2`0`1`0
Yonki cf`2`0`0`0
Rynkiewicz lf`2`0`0`0
Talerico rf`1`0`0`0
Collins eh`2`0`0`0
Stamm eh`1`0`0`0
Totals`21`2`3`2
Valley View`AB`R`H`BI
Buczynski ss`3`1`1`0
Forgione 2b`2`2`0`0
Prutzman p`2`2`1`0
Warnetsky c`2`1`1`1
Nicastro cf`2`1`0`0
Bauer 3b`2`0`0`0
Malinowski 1b`1`1`0`0
Siekierka rf`1`1`0`1
Scoblick lf`1`1`0`1
Zadarosni eh`2`2`0`1
Moyles eh`1`0`1`0
Heim eh`2`0`0`0
Totals`21`11`4`4
Township`020 `000 — 2
Valley View`001 `73x — 11
2B — Prutzman, Sperazza.
Township`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Argento`3.1`2`2`1`2`6
Oliveri (L)`0.1`0`4`4`3`1
Sperazza`0.1`2`5`4`3`1
Rynkiewicz`1`0`0`0`1`0
Valley View`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Prutzman (W)`5`2`2`1`1`10
Scoblick`1`0`0`0`1`0
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