FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Pottsville’s Travis Blankenhorn has created quite a buzz with his post-game hitting displays for professional scouts.
Wednesday, his Crimson Tide teammates put on a hitting show of their own.
Pottsville pounded out 18 hits, including eight for extra bases, to roll past North Schuylkill 16-3 in five innings in a Schuylkill League Division I first-place showdown.
Ty Painter and Darion Jacoby each had two hits in a 10-run first inning that set the tone, and the Tide added three runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth to pull away.
With the win, Pottsville (11-4, 8-1 D-I) moves into sole possession of first place in the Division I standings, 1½ games ahead of North Schuylkill (10-4, 6-2 D-I) and Blue Mountain (13-3, 7-3 D-I).
“Baseball is a team game,” Painter said. “Travis is a great player and we feed off him. He sets the tone of the game and we fall behind and pass the torch along.
“We wanted to be aggres-
sive and score first. We attacked good pitches to hit, ran the bases well and kept it going.”
The Crimson Tide sent 14 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, collecting eight hits, two hit batsmen and a walk while knocking out North Schuylkill starter Tevin Murray.
Painter had a single and a two-run triple in the frame, while Jacoby had a pair of RBI doubles. Eli Nabholz plated one run with a sacrifice fly and another with a single, Connor Hinchliffe and Gavin Hinchliffe each had RBI singles, and Blankenhorn had a two-run single.
Blankenhorn, Painter and Jacoby each scored two runs.
“I got a good pitch to hit, stayed back and drove it,” Painter said of his triple. The ball was misplayed by the center fielder, who broke in on the ball and had it go over his head. “It carried well and luckily got over his head.”
After two straight losses, the Pottsville offense was chomping at the bit Wednesday.
“We lost to two tough, really good teams and saw two really good pitchers,” Pottsville coach Mike Welsh said of losses to Blue Mountain and Governor Mifflin. “Murray is a heck of a pitcher, and our guys seemed to be on him in the first inning.
“I was proud of the approach that we took. We made him throw some pitches, got into some good counts and took advantage of some fastballs on the outer half that we were able to drive.”
Painter finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, Jacoby was 3-for-4 with three doubles and two RBIs, while Nabholz finished 3-for-3 with two doubles and four RBIs.
The top six hitters in the Tide lineup — Blankenhorn, Painter, Jacoby, Nabholz, Connor Hinchliffe and Brandon Daubert — were 15-for-21 (.714) with 13 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
“I was just trying to hit the first fastball that I saw, do anything I could to get some runs on the board and help the team,” said Jacoby, who scored four runs. “It was a big game, and we needed the win.”
The loss was a tough one for North Schuylkill, which saw its ace last just two-thirds of an inning and face only 12 batters. Murray surrendered seven hits and a walk and hit two batters, yielding 10 runs, all earned.
The Spartans tallied a run in the first and two more in the second inning, but couldn’t keep up with Pottsville’s potent attack.
Nabholz pitched all five innings for the Tide, finishing with seven strikeouts. John Rupinski and Jordan Marlow each had two hits for the Spartans.
“(Murray) didn’t have it today,” North Schuylkill coach Nick Brayford said. “He’s a better pitcher than that and he can make better pitches. Today, I think some of his pitches he elevated a little bit.
“The good thing about him is he’ll be back and he’ll be ready for his next start. I have all the confidence in the world in him. I think he’ll be fine.”
The loss doesn’t cripple North Schuylkill, which stayed in second place with Tamaqua’s 3-0, nine-inning victory over Blue Mountain.
The Spartans have games remaining at Lehighton (Friday), at Blue Mountain (Monday), against Jim Thorpe (May 6) and at Tamaqua (May 8).
“Today is done,” Brayford said. “As soon as we leave here, you forget about it. You learn from it, but you forget about it. That’s what we have to do, we have to move on.
“In this league, you hang your head for a couple of games, and a couple of games later you have a couple of more losses.”
Game Summary
POTTSVILLE (16) — Blankenhorn ss 4 3 2 2, Painter 2b 4 3 3 3, Jacoby cf 4 4 3 2, Nabholz p 3 0 3 4, C. Hinchliffe c 3 2 2 1, Daubert lf 3 0 2 1, Liptock cr-ph 1 1 0 0, G. Hinchliffe rf 3 1 1 1, Spehrley rf 1 0 0 0, Wapinsky 3b 2 1 1 0, Barnes 3b 1 0 0 0, O’Pake 1b 1 0 1 0, Robison dh 2 1 0 0. Totals 32 16 18 14.
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (3) — Wagner cf 1 1 1 0, Dziczek ph-3b 1 0 0 0, Zahodnick ss 2 0 0 1, Rupinski lf-3b-cf 3 0 2 1, Murray p-lf 2 0 0 0, Weikel ph 1 0 0 0, Antalosky 2b-p 0 0 0 0, Hummel dh-p 1 0 0 0, Burke c 2 0 1 0, Paul c 1 0 0 0, Steinhilber 1b 2 0 0 0, Reese ph 1 0 0 0, Hillbish 3b-2b 1 1 0 0, Shalamanda 3b 0 0 0 0, Marlow rf 2 1 2 0, Mueller rf 0 0 0 0. Totals 20 3 6 2.
Pottsville (11-4, 8-1) (10)03 30 — 16
North Sch. (10-4, 6-2) 1 20 00 — 3
E — Pottsville 1, North Schuylkill 3. DP — Pottsville 1, North Schuylkill 1. LOB — Pottsville 6, North Schuylkill 7. 2B — Painter, Jacoby 3, Nabholz 2, O’Pake. 3B — Painter. SB — C. Hinchliffe. SF — Nabholz.
Pottsville IP H R ER BB K
Nabholz W,5-0 5 6 3 1 4 7
North Sch. IP H R ER BB K
Murray L,3-1 .2 7 10 10 1 0
Hummel 3.1 10 6 3 1 2
Antalosky 1 1 0 0 0 1
HBP — by Murray (Blankenhorn, Wapinsky). WP — Hummel. BK — Hummel. T — 1:48.