HEGINS — Having a late start to this summer’s Schuylkill-Berks Legion League schedule, Valley View has been experimenting with different lineups during its first few games.
The West Enders might have found the winning combination Wednesday.
Valley View rallied from an early three-run deficit for a 14-4, five-inning victory over Pottsville to take a two-point lead in the North Division.
Andrew Belding finished 2-for-2 and scored three runs for Valley View (3-3), which broke the game open with an eight-run third inning. Belding also turned out to be the winning pitcher when he relieved starter Ryan Schaffer with the Lions up 3-0 in the top of the second.
Belding, Danny Opozda, Conrad Opozda and Tyler Lucas — the West Enders’ Nos. 6-9 hitters — accounted for nine of the team’s 14 runs. Only once in 14 plate appearances did any of those bottom four batters fail to reach base.
The West Enders batted around in both the second and third innings.
“We adjusted our lineup once again,” Valley View coach Ben
Lucas said. “We’ve been doing that since the beginning of the season to see where all the kids can go in the mix.
“We’re getting stronger throughout the season. We’re starting to see the abilities of the players and that’s giving us a good understanding of what we need on the field.”
Pottsville (1-4) took an early lead on Sam Siminitus’ RBI single in the top of the first. Brandon Daubert’s two-run single in the second chased Schaffer out of the game for Belding, who got the final out of the inning and stranded two runners in scoring position.
The Lions appeared to be cruising in the bottom of the second with two outs and the bottom of the half of the Valley View lineup coming to the plate. But that was all about to change.
Belding, Danny Opozda and Conrad Opozda hit three straight singles through the left side of the infield, with Conrad Opozda’s a two-run shot that rolled into shallow left field.
Lucas was then hit by a pitch to set up back-to-back RBI singles by Jordan Marlow and Ben Rautzahn to give Valley View a 4-3 lead.
“The bottom of the lineup today pulled its weight,” Belding said. “Last couple games, we’ve been counting on the guys at the top to score runs. As a team, we hit real good once someone gets it going. We all feed off each other.”
Belding hit a one-out single in the third to start another rally. Both Opozdas then walked to end Pottsville starter Bryant Wilson’s night.
Wilson threw an effective curveball in the first inning and into the second, but Valley View got a read on the pitch’s movement and changed the outcome of the game.
“Bryant was going pretty well there and then those hits kind of shook him up a bit,” Pottsville coach Tyler Heffner said. “Then they had a couple breaks go their way and we never really recovered from that.”
Pottsville also started the season late, with the Crimson Tide varsity team reaching the state semifinals. Additionally, the Lions were also battling a short bench Wednesday with just 11 players.
Siminitus came on in relief of Wilson and didn’t have much more luck. The first batter he faced was Lucas, who drove the ball down the left-field line for an RBI single. An error, RBI walk and a fielder’s choice set up C.J. Steinhilber’s two-run double to make it 10-3.
Two walks and two more errors extended the West Enders’ lead to 12-3, a deficit from which the Lions never recovered.
Valley View brought a combined 24 batters to the plate in the second and third innings.
“We got two outs in that (second) inning and they got a couple hits and it kind of snowballed from there,” Heffner said. “I think our guys kind of lost a little more momentum there.”
Pottsville got one run back in the fourth, but Hunter Bordner matched it with a double in the bottom of the fourth to score Rautzahn.
Bordner then pitched the fifth inning, fielding two grounders and striking out Pottsville’s final pitcher of the night, Mitch Robison, using just 10 pitches.
Not surprisingly, the bottom of the Valley View lineup delivered the game-ending run. Belding led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on Danny Opozda’s single over the third-base bag.
“We had good base runners tonight, aggressive boys at bat,” Ben Lucas said. “They came through for us tonight.”
Southern Area 5
Pine Grove 1
PINE GROVE — Rob Oliver struck out nine in a complete-game effort and was 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the A’s took over first place in the Central Division with a victory over the Grovers at Stump Stadium.
Oliver allowed eight hits and one earned run. He also walked one.
Shane Grapsy was also 2-for-4 for Southern Area. Zach Martin and Grapsy added doubles for the A’s, who moved two points ahead of Pine Grove and Hamburg in the division standings.
Logan Levan, Steve Zimmerman and Tanner Levan had two hits apiece for the Grovers.
SA (6-2) 010 010 3 — 5 8 2
PG (5-5) 100 000 0 — 1 8 4
Oliver and catcher not provided; Brown, Fick (3) and catcher not provided. W — Oliver. L — Fick.
HITS: Southern Area — Hammer, Greenawalt, Oliver 2, Grapsy 2, Kyslinger, Martin. Pine Grove — L. Levan 2, Zimmerman 2, T. Levan 2, Wolfe, Kreiser.
2B — Grapsy, Martin, Zimmerman.
Junior League
Southern Area 5
Daniel Boone 4
AUBURN — Jack McKivigan had three hits, including a fifth-inning solo home run, and pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning to give Southern Area a win over Daniel Boone in Berks County Area Junior Legion League action.
Daniel Boone pulled even in the sixth, but couldn’t get out front against McKivigan. Then Cheyenne Wesley drove in Ethan Stump in the bottom of the sixth to put Southern Area ahead for good.
Southern Area rallied from a three-point hole in the third inning thanks to RBI singles by Jake Biever, Nick Yeastadt and Trevor Peters.
DB (1-10) 201 001 0 — 4 6 0
SA (5-6) 003 011 x — 5 12 2
2B — McKivigan, Biever. HR — McKivigan.
Game Summary
POTTSVILLE (4) — Wapinsky ss 2 1 1 0, Spehrley lf-cf 2 1 2 0, Daubert cf-3b 3 0 2 2, Siminitus rf-p-rf 2 0 1 1, Renninger 2b 1 0 0 0, Joyce 2b 1 0 0 0, Kalinich 3b-1b 3 0 0 0, Herndon c 3 0 1 0, Robison 1b-p 3 0 0 0, Wilson p-rf-1b 1 1 1 0, Holobetz lf 0 1 0 0. Totals 21 4 8 3.
VALLEY VIEW (14) — Marlow cf 4 1 2 1, Rautzahn ss-3b 3 1 1 2, Bordner 3b-p 3 1 1 2, Schaffer p 0 0 0 0, Chamberlain 2b 0 0 0 0, Steinhilber dh 4 1 1 2, Herb 1b 2 1 0 0, Bolinsky 1b 1 0 0 0, Belding 2b-p-ss 2 3 2 0, D. Opozda rf 3 2 2 1, C. Opozda lf 2 2 1 2, I. Lucas lf 0 0 0 0, T. Lucas c 2 2 1 1. Totals 26 14 11 11.
Pottsville (1-4) 120 10 — 4
Valley View (3-3) 048 11 — 14
No outs when game-ending run scored
E — Pottsville 4, Valley View 0. DP — None. LOB — Pottsville 5, Valley View 7. 2B — Bordner, Steinhilber. SB — Siminitus, Herndon.
Pottsville IP H R ER BB K
Wilson L 2.1 6 7 7 3 2
Siminitus .1 2 5 5 1 0
Robison 1.1 3 2 2 2 0
Valley View IP H R ER BB K
Schaffer 1.2 6 3 3 1 2
Belding W 2.1 2 1 1 2 0
Bordner 1 0 0 0 0 1
Robison pitched to 1 batter in the 5th
HBP — by Wilson (Bordner), by Belding (Holobetz). PB — Herndon, T. Lucas 2. T — 2:00.