Red Raiders cruise on back of Brown’s one-hitter and Kennedy’s four RBI
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Brian Brown delivers in the third inning. Brown gave gave no quarter to his opponents, allowing only one hit for the game.
WEST GROVE – When the Coatesville Area High School baseball team finds its groove, no one in the conference can keep up with it.
Such was the case in the Red Raiders’ 10-2 win at Avon Grove on Wednesday. Stifling pitching on one side combined with the longball on the other to make the Red Raiders early favorites, and only two runs in the last inning separated them from the shutout.
After a scoreless first, junior Bobby Stewart drew first blood with a two-run homer in the top of the second. Not to be outdone, senior Jake Kennedy added a two-run shot of his own to make it 4-0.
“It’s a great luxury [having home run hitters], but the problem is that we try to rely on it too much,” said Coach Hal Ziegler, who wanted to see his team manufacture more runs.
Jake Kennedy swings to bring home his third RBI of the game. Kennedy finished with four RBI’s and two home runs.
In the fourth, the team showed that they can score with patience, rather than power. After Stewart reached with a line single and a hit batter advanced him to second, senior C J Young grounded one up the middle to bring him in. Coatesville went on to load the bases, meaning junior Aaron Cummings’s walk made it 6-0.
Meanwhile, junior pitcher Brian Brown dominated on the mound. Going six innings, Brown only allowed one hit.
“That’s what he’s given us all year,” said Ziegler. “We’re fortunate to have him out on the bump.”
For most of the game, Avon Grove never looked close to scoring, let alone winning.
Coatesville would only add to their lead for the rest of the game, with Kennedy providing four RBI’s on the day. In the top of the seventh, the righty blasted a ball to the opposite field for a solo shot, his second home run of the day. Ziegler had no complaints about that one.
“Jake pushed that the other way; that’s what we want,” he said.
A couple of walks in the bottom of the seventh setup Avon Grove to drive in their only runs, but with 10 runs already in the bank, the Red Raiders did not sweat.
COATESVILLE 0 4 0 2 2 1 1 — 10
AVON GROVE 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 — 2
