Published July 01, 2008 08:00 am - On a day when your pitcher comes within a seeing-eye single of a perfect game and you wonder if that was the most impressive aspect of the game, you know you've had a good day at the yard.
Homers and a near perfect game for Danville
Post 40 turns in a rout at Line Mountain
By William Bowman
The Danville News
MANDATA -- On a day when your pitcher comes within a seeing-eye single of a perfect game and you wonder if that was the most impressive aspect of the game, you know you've had a good day at the yard.
Andrew Shoop threw a five-inning shutout, not allowing a runner to reach base until a single in the last inning Monday at Line Mountain. And while his performance was stellar, so were the four home runs Danville launched in a 14-0 rout, including the first long ball of Zach Levan's career.
Levan, Michael Smith, Dan Winnie and Kyle Mundy all hit balls over the short fence at Line Mountain High School, including one in each of the first three innings. It was a resounding response for Post 40, who saw their seven-game win streak snapped with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday.
"It was huge for us to come back this way, because we haven't really been in this situation this season," said Albertson, whose team responded from its first loss with seven wins in a row. "We were really good in every aspect of the game."
Shoop was perfect through the four innings before Colton Ebersole hit a slow roller between the hole at first and second to ruin the no-hitter and perfect game with one swing. By that point, however, things had long been settled.
Post 40 (9-3, 7-1 SVALL) scored at least two runs in each of its five at-bats, getting two-run homers in the first, third and fifth innings.
In the first, Smith walked and Mundy then hit a laser into the trees beyond the right field fence to put Danville up 2-0.
Smith, who walked three times and scored four runs, got into the action with another opposite field homer, this time a three-run shot on a 1-2 pitch that made it 6-0.
"We've been stressing to hit the ball the other way, especially against pitchers who don't throw all that hard," said Albertson. "The guys had a great approach at the plate and it showed."
Danville got its third homer in three innings when Zach Levan, batting in the sixth spot, lofted a high fly ball to left that cleared the fence for a two-run shot, making it 8-0. It was Levan's first home run at any level.
"He sort of flew around the bases," said Albertson. "It was neat to see."
After Danville took a 12-0 lead with four more runs in the fourth, Winnie blasted Danville's fourth and final long ball of the game, slamming a shot well over the left-center field fence to cap the rout.
The way his team not only bounced back from its losses, but also in the fashion it did, had Albertson beaming afterwards.
"A lot of times we come here and the guys see the short porch and they start swinging for the fences," he said. "This time we took good aggressive swings, hit line drives, and the balls carried out."
Notes: Danville hosts Shamokin-Mount Carmel, the only team to hand it a league loss this season, on Wednesday at Danville High School ... In addition to his performance on the mound, Shoop hit a triple ... Christian Bohan also had two hits for Danville.