Shortstop, Danny Hrbek, turns an unassisted double play in the early innings of this rematch.
Pleasant Valley hosted Stroudsburg in a rematch of an earlier season game that went eight innings. This important game played up to the hype and went nine innings! It was another nip and tuck game for both sides and showed just how evenly matched these teams really are on the diamond. The game started an hour earlier due to impending rain that was predicted to be on the way. The weather storms held off, but the thunder of bats driving balls deep kept the fans on the edge of their seats throughout this thrilling game.
Dylan Pasnak pitched a masterful game against Stroudsburg tonight. He was locating pitches, and started out ahead in the counts. It was arguably the best game he put on the mound all season!
Dylan Pasnak pitched a masterful game. He gave up two, first inning runs on three hits. After the game he said the mound was not in great shape at the beginning of the game and it was throwing his stride off a little bit. He fought through it and got stronger as the game progressed. His fastball seemed to actually get faster with each passing inning! His pitches resulted in a lot of ground balls. Some hits went deep into the outfield, but the outfielders did an excellent job tracking them down, including one incredible diving catch by center fielder Troy Van Houten in the top of the fifth inning!
Ariel Mejia slides into second base on a successful steal attempt.
There were times when PV was aggressive on the base paths. Ariel Mejia stole second base, and on another play, Dan Hrbek stole third base and Adam Raseley followed behind to steal second base on a beautiful double steal! This is something PV will have to do more of in the Semi-Final game against Pocono Mountain East in their bid to get to the MVC Championship Game again this year. They are on track and sitting well going into next week’s MVC Championship Games.
Second baseman, Austin Yoffredo, records the put out by throwing to first base.
There were a large number of ground outs in this game. Joey Deperno, the Stroudsburg starting pitcher, did well on the mound. He commanded most of his pitches and pitched deep into the game, only being taken out in the 8th inning after he threw 117 pitches. Dylan Pasnak was able to pitch deep into the game, too, thanks to the ground outs, which kept his pitch count just over 100 as well, topping out at 107 pitches thrown. It was a close game between these two teams and even position by position.
Catcher, James Shank, is ready to receive the pitch, but the Stroudsburg hitter has other plans!
This game went into extra innings, knotted up 3 to 3. It took nine innings to determine the outcome when Stroudsburg crossed a runner over the plate on an error. That’s how close this game was and how evenly matched these teams are on the field. In the two regular-season games, they were each decided by one run in extra innings! The regular season is winding down as PV faces Whitehall tomorrow. Then the MVC Finals will be played next week.
Go Bears!