WEST CHESTER, PA – Following a dominant 11-2 victory over Spring-Ford in the first round, the Garnet Valley Jaguars are on the road to face the seventh-seed West Chester Henderson Warriors.
Ryan McGhee was the obvious choice to take the mound yesterday, as the lefty has had a great season at the top of the rotation. As for who the Jaguars will give the ball to tomorrow, it is unclear.
Honestly, I have no clue who will start tomorrow. The five leading contenders for the start are Cody Wiest, Joe Anzalone, Dylan Orr, Cole Reber, and Connor Criswell. Orr and Criswell are unlikely due to throwing on Monday, but they only threw one inning each. Keep in mind that although only one of these guys will start, it is likely that the majority of them will make an appearance.
Henderson will send out sophomore Anthony Barthol. The lefty has been dominant, going the distance in his last couple of outings.
Seniors Nolan Carroll and Brady Thompson (committed to Ursinus and Washington College, respectively) lead the Jaguars’ offense, which has done very well even with Richmond recruit Chris Schaller’s absence.
Junior shortstop Cole Lombardo has made his presence known, with an average of .438 and an OPS of 1.122 on the year.
Senior shortstop Liam Schwinn has thrived at the top of the lineup for the Warriors. The righty is committed to Stockton, and he went 4/5 with 3 RBI’s against Bishop Shanahan.
Seniors Ethan Franks and Alex Cortes live right behind Schwinn, hitting second and third, respectively. These three will look to keep their senior season alive with strong games.
Garnet Valley has to get Anthony Barthol out of this game early. Barthol has displayed his ability to go deep into ballgames, and Henderson is very successful when they can delay going to the pen for as long as possible.
Pitching will be a joint effort for the Jaguars’ staff. Expect to see a lot of pitching changes by Coach Shiller.
The game is being played at 4 PM at West Chester Henderson. The winner will face the winner of Methacton and Central Bucks South.