Westminster Academy Defeats Pine Ridge, Play Sagemont Wednesday

Westminster Defeated Pine Ridge by a final of 7-3 Tuesday afternoon for their second win in as many days and will play the Sagemont Lions on Wednesday at one 1 p.m. 

A stellar performance by the starting pitcher for Westminster, Daniel Donofrio, led them to the win.  Donofrio went all seven innings for the complete game giving up three runs, two earned, while allowing just three hits with four strikeouts and a walk.  He faced just one over the minimum batters through five innings.

Offensively for the Lions, they scored seven runs on six hits, scoring five runs in the second to take control and tacked on two more in the sixth for insurance.

After a quiet first inning for both teams, the Lions got the scoring started in the bottom of the second.  After a strikeout, Daniel Burns walked and reached third on a throwing error from the pitcher in a pickoff attempt.  Derrick Borgeson was up next and was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and third.

Westminster manufactured their first run with a safety squeeze by Blake Kidwell to score Burns and advance Borgeson to second.  The leadoff batter for the Lions, Matt Friend, followed with a RBI double to make it 2-0. 

A walk to shortstop Will Bushcman spelled the end of the line for Pine Ridge’s starting pitcher Mike Vermilo who left responsible for the two runners on base.  The walk to Bushcman brought James Cote to the plate and he delivered with a big two out three-run home run over the left field fence to push the lead to five.

Designated hitter Joey Knight followed with a single but the rally ended with a 6-4 putout as Westminster sent all nine players to the plate in the second.

The bullpen for Pine Ridge held Westminster to just two hits over the next three innings to keep them within striking distance.  Pine Ridge’s bats showed some life in the sixth after Alex Mejia reached base on an error and Joey Tracey singled.

This brought up leadoff batter Danny Mejia who fouled off a few pitches before finding the one he liked and sent it over the leftfield fence for a three-run homerun to make it 5-3.  That was all Pine Ridge could get after the next three batters were retired.

Westminster answered with two more insurance runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to make it 7-3.  Borgeson walked and eventually scored on a balk.  Kidwell was hit by a pitch and scored on a single from Bushcman.

Pine Ridge added some excitement to the seventh, putting a couple runners on before Tracey flew out to right for the final out of the game.

For Pine Ridge, Danny Mejia finished with two hits and three RBI’s with a run scored.  For the Lions, Cote finished with two hits three RBI’s a run scored and a stolen base.  Borgeson reached base all three times with a single, hit-by-pitch, and a walk and scored twice.  Bushcman finished the day with a couple walks, a stolen base, and a run scored to go along with his RBI single.

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