Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Bob Stumpo drove in four runs and Mike Cope and Greg Ball combined to strike out 14 batters as No. 11 West Chester won the Bill Giles Classic championship with a 7-6 victory over University of the Sciences (USP) Tuesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Ballpark.
West Chester (30-4) claimed its fifth title in the eight years of the classic, defeating USP (7-15) for the second time in the championship game. The Golden Rams improved to 11-3 all-time in the tournament and 5-1 in the championship game, including a perfect 4-0 at Citizens Bank Ballpark. West Chester also downed USP in the title game back in 2004.
Trailing 7-4 after seven innings, USP rallied for two in the eighth to pull within striking distance, but left the tying run at third base in the ninth inning.
Sophomore right-hander Greg Ball (1-1) earned his first win in a West Chester uniform by getting himself out of the jam in the final frame. Pinch-hitter Brian Scott drew a walk from Ball to lead off and then stole second. Steven Rossi chopped a dribbler back to Ball, who spun and threw out Rossi at first, enabling Scott to move up to third with only one out in the inning.
Ball struck out Pete McCauley looking and then got Michael Curry to foul out down the right field line to end the game, stranding Scott at third.
Ball, who came on for starter Mike Cope in the fourth inning, struck out 10 batters and scattered four hits over the last six innings for the win. It marked his longest outing of the year. Ball allowed two runs, only one earned, and walked a batter.
Switch-hitting catcher Bob Stumpo provided the offense for the Golden Rams with a pair of two-run doubles down each line from both sides of the plate to finish with four RBI on the afternoon. Batting left-handed in the third, Stumpo doubled into the right-field corner, scoring Nick Spisak and Drew Pare.
Turning around against USP left-hander Gary Thompson (1-4) in the seventh inning, Stumpo hammered one of his offerings into the left-field corner that plated Blair Dameron and Pare and put West Chester in front for good, 5-4. That two-run knock chased Thompson. However, Jake Griesemer singled in two more runs later in the frame to push the Rams’ lead to 7-4.
The Devils fought back in the eighth when Curry led off with a single and came around to score on a double by David Kittle, making his first plate appearance of the game after entering in the top half of the inning in a double switch. Two batters later, Mark Forbes grounded a ball to short where Spisak’s throw over to first was low and dropped by Dameron. Kittle advanced to third and then scooted home with USP’s sixth run of the game when the ball rolled away from Dameron.
Stumpo finished 2-for-5 on the day, and Spisak was 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and a pair of runs scored to go along with three stolen bases. Twice, Spisak was the lead runner on successful double steal attempts. He swiped third base in the seventh inning after leading off with a double to left center and watching Dameron walk.
West Chester batter Matt Cotellese squared to bunt, and USP’s third baseman charged in to field the attempt. Cotellese pulled back when he saw Spisak break for third with nobody there to cover the bag. Spisak was in standing up. Cotellese then hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Spisak easily.
The Golden Rams left 10 runners on base in the game, including leaving the bases loaded in the first and third innings. West Chester battered seven USP pitchers for eight hits while drawing eight walks.
West Chester travels to Philadelphia University on Wednesday for another non-league tilt at 3:30 p.m.