Batting practice
JACKSON TWP — Pitching has been king for the Seneca Valley baseball team.
TheRaiders came into their home game against Pine-Richland Wednesday afternoon on a seven-game winning streak. But during that stretch, they had scored only 36 runs.
Against the Rams, Seneca Valley scored early, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first inning, and often on the way to a 12-2, six-inning win.
"We've swung the bat very well in practice, then in the game it doesn't seem like we've put many hits together," said Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega. "Today, it seemed like we put some hits together."
Cory Mazzoni is known more for his arm than his bat. That might change after he hit a two-run home run in the first inning to raise his season total to four.
As a team, the Raiders pounded out 14 hits.
Tyler Bream had four of them, including a double, and No. 9 hitter Jim Burry got in on the act with a 3-for-3 day and two RBI.
Seneca Valley led 8-1 after three innings and forced Pine-Richland to dip deep into its bullpen.
Starter Evan Affinito lasted only one inning. He was hurt by two errors he committed that led to an unearned run.
The Rams used four relievers after that, with only left-hander Ryan Nussbaum showing any kind of effectiveness, He surrendered only one run in two innings.
Meanwhile, Raiders starter Kyle Helisek cruised, striking out eight in six innings and allowing four hits.
His only rough patch came in the fourth inning when he walked three consecutive batters to force in a run, but got Pine-Richland leadoff hitter Brett Mollenhauer to hit a sharp ground ball to second for a fielder's choice to end the threat.
"Kyle does very well spotting the ball," Semega said. "But in that fourth inning, he struggled a little bit. He started to think his stuff wasn't as good as it was.
"He kept his head up and battled through it."
The Rams' Cono Passione hit a solo home run off of Helisek in the second innings.
The Raiders remain 1Z\x games ahead of NorthHills in the conference race. The Indians beat Butler 2-1 Wednesday.
Pine-Richland 010 100 x—2 4 3Seneca Valley 413 0113 x—12 14 0WP: Kyle Helisek (6 IP) 8 strikeouts, 3 walks.
LP: Evan Affinito (1 IP) 1 strikeout, 0 walks
Pine-Richland (1-4, 1-1): Cono Passione HR, RBI
Seneca Valley (8-1, 5-0): Kenny Walrond 1B, RBI; Mike Eonta 1B, 2-RBI; Phil Double 1B, RBI; Cory Mazzoni HR, 2-RBI; Tyler Bream 3-1B, 2B, RBI; Matt Johnson 2B, 2-RBI; Jim Burry 2-1B, 2B, 2-RBI
Friday: Seneca Valley at Butler
