William Penn Wins Home-Opening Twinbill
William Penn Statesmen (white) took on Waldorf Saturday afternoon
Oskaloosa–With offense scarce, every baserunner on Saturday was crucial and the Statesmen were fortunately a little better at brining their players around in a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader sweep over Waldorf.
William Penn (8-10, 2-0 MCC) won by scores of 3-0 and 4-1 in its first home contests of 2012.
Jorge Quezada (Jr., San Ysidro, Calif., Castle Park HS), fresh off his first collegiate no-hitter last Friday, was again stunning in the team’s league opener.
He cruised through Waldorf’s lineup, allowing just four hits, one walk, and one hit-by-pitch. The junior (3-2), who let just one runner reach third base, struck out seven.
After getting runners in scoring position in the first two frames, the Statesmen finally broke through with two in the third.
Stanley Muller (Sr., Tucson, Ariz., Cochise CC) led off with a double and then scored on an error in the next at-bat.
Nick Kirby (Jr., Palmdale, Calif., Antelope Valley CC), who reached the pads on that error, then rounded the bases on a double by Randall Packard (Sr., Forestville, Calif., Cal State-Monterey).
The third and final run was tallied in the fourth when Nathan Wood (Jr., Tucson, Ariz., Arizona Western CC) singled in Jayme Mueller (Jr., Mundelein, Ill., College of Lake County CC), who led off with a walk.
Mueller paced the offense with a 2-for-2 showing. William Penn produced six hits in the first contest.
The hosts jumped out on top in the nightcap as well, scoring three in the first.
Muller scored on a passed ball, Packard singled home Brad Chin (Sr., San Rafael, Calif., San Rafael HS), and Aaron Laird (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) singled in Packard to cap the frame.
Starting pitcher David Ness (Sr., Purceville, Va., Frederick CC) got into a little trouble in the second and third, but did not surrender his first run until the fourth to make it 3-1.
If anyone doubted that Saturday was going to be a navy and gold day, those fears were calmed in the sixth.
The Warriors (10-11, 0-2 MCC) started the top of the inning with a single, but in trying to stretch it to a double, Spenser Popinga was thrown out by Wood from left field.
Jake Bews then added a one-bagger of his own, but attempted to steal second. Tony Alvarez (Jr., Spring Valley, Calif., Southwestern CC) would have none of that, however, and gunned him down with a great throw from behind the plate.
Ness then gave up a double, which would have tied the game had the Waldorf athletes not been thrown out. The senior finally settled down and struck out the next batter to close the frame.
On the flip side, the first two Statesmen in the bottom of the sixth got out, but pinch hitter Julio Riojas (Jr., Hampton, Ill., Carl Sandburg CC) kept his squad alive by reaching base on a dropped third strike.
Back-to-back walks were drawn before Kirby managed an infield single to plate Riojas with an insurance run. William Penn won despite being outhit 8-5.
Ness (3-1) gave up one run (unearned), while striking out five and walking two.
Next: The Statesmen again host Waldorf Sunday, playing one nine-inning game at noon.
