JOHNSTOWN —
Drew Westover didn’t realize he had made history with a smash over the center fielder’s head during a recent AAABA League game.
Neither did his manager, Chris DelSignore, that night at Point Stadium.
The Delweld slugger became only the second player in franchise history to hit for the cycle during an 11-1 victory over Roxberry Creamery on June 4.
“When I hit the triple I
didn’t really even think about it,” Westover said of his sixth-inning blast. “I was standing on third and someone said, ‘You hit for the cycle.’ That’s when I thought about it.”
Westover doubled to left field in the first inning, ripped a solo homer over the screen in the fourth, singled in the fifth and tripled in the sixth. The Pitt-Johnstown product scored three runs and drove in two that night.
“I actually didn’t know he needed the triple for the cycle,” said DelSignore, whose team is in second place in the five-team AAABA League. “He hit the ball over the center fielder’s head and it kept rolling. I’m thinking I’m going to try to wave him around and get him two home runs for the game.
“The defense did a good job of getting the ball to the infield, and he wound up with a triple.”
Roxberry Creamery third baseman Nate Antone figured it out and told DelSignore.
“I didn’t realize until the third baseman said, ‘He hit for the cycle.’ I asked Drew, ‘Did you hit for the cycle?’ ” DelSignore said.
DelSignore believes the only other Delweld player to hit for the cycle is Andre Williams about a decade ago.
“Andre Williams did it in a game at UPJ against one of (manager) Len Beiter’s teams, maybe Assure Home Equity,” DelSignore said.
An outfielder, Westover said his strong finish at UPJ has carried over to the AAABA League season. He batted .358 while starting 45 games for the Mountain Cats. Westover doubled 10 times, tripled once and had eight homers and 39 RBIs.
“I got pretty hot at the end of the college season, and I’m just trying to keep up from there,” Westover said. “We get a lot of at-bats before we come down and play for the summer. I had 150 at-bats or so.”
Still, hitting for the cycle was unexpected.
“I’ve come close,” Westover said. “I hit two home runs and a double and a single but I don’t think I’ve ever hit for the cycle before.”
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Milestone victory: Martella’s Pharmacy’s 7-2 win over Delweld in a battle of front-runners at the Point was the 300th all-time for manager Chris Pfeil.
Pfeil has been the only manager in the history of the franchise, which formerly was the Johnstown Grays from 1999 through 2007.
His teams have won regular-season titles in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Three times, the Grays finished in the AAABA Tournament Final Four (2002, 2004, 2005).
Last year, Martella’s entered the AAABA Tournament as Johnstown’s second representative after Washington D.C. pulled out on the eve of the event. Martella’s went 2-2.
Overall, Pfeil has a 13-8 AAABA Tournament record as manager.
His teams won 77 games (including playoffs and the tournament) in a two-year span in 2004 (37 wins) and 2005 (40). Twice, the Grays/Martella’s had 30 regular-season victories (2005, 2009).
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Numbers: Roxberry Creamery pitchers Sam Bashioum and Greg Daviault began the week with some impressive statistics.
In 14 innings, Bashioum had a 0.50 ERA with eight strikeouts and no walks while going 1-0. Daviault had a 0.87 ERA with seven strikeouts and one walk while going 1-1. Carson Seaman had five hits and led the Creamery with a .357 average entering this week.
Delweld’s Austin Urban had a 0.00 ERA with one complete game shutout entering this week. Urban had 11 strikeouts and one walk. The Baltimore Orioles drafted him in the 27th round on Tuesday.
Matt Skoner had a 1-0 record and 1.00 ERA entering this week, and Carter Lehman was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA, six strikeouts and no walks for Delweld.
Martella’s Alex Naggy (1-0, 0.00 ERA, nine strikeouts), Clint White (1-0, 0.00 ERA, five strikeouts) and Landon Wahl (2-0, 2.70 ERA, nine strikeouts) combined for four wins and 23 strikeouts at the week’s outset.
Mike Mastovich is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.
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