C.H. West rallies past Shawnee

Zach Renna figured it was a small price to pay.

Renna sat in the dugout with a large ice bag on his chest and an even larger smile on his face.

Moments earlier, Renna had driven in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning as Cherry Hill West rallied for a 6-5 victory over Shawnee on Thursday in an Olympic Patriot baseball game.

"I must have had 20 guys on top of me," Renna said of the teammates who mobbed him in celebration of the victory. "I saw them coming at me and I was like, 'Oh, no.' "

Renna, a senior catcher, was 2 for 3 with a double and threw out a base-runner as Cherry Hill West (3-1 overall, 1-0 division) battled back from a 5-2 deficit against its nemesis.

Shawnee (1-1, 1-1) was 4-0 against Cherry Hill West in 2010 and 2011. For the seven Lions seniors who started as sophomores and juniors, as well as third-year coach Dan McMaster, finally beating the Renegades was something special.

"They always had our number," said Cherry Hill West senior Andrew Fisher, who earned the pitching victory with 32/3 innings of scoreless relief and also delivered the Lions' biggest hit of the game. "They always found a way to beat us. It finally went the other way."

Junior centerfielder Jarrett DeHart, who has committed to Louisiana State, was 2 for 2 with a two-run homer and senior first baseman Connor Arsenault was 3 for 3 for Shawnee. The Renegades used four pitchers.

"Give West credit. They battled back," Shawnee coach Brian Anderson said. "Our inexperienced pitchers did a great job. They gave us a chance to win."

Shawnee built a 5-2 lead against West ace Brenden DelMonte, a lefthander who has committed to Navy. The Renegades scored three times on just one hit in the third, and took a 5-2 lead when DeHart drove a 3-1 pitch over the right-center field fence with one out in the fourth.

Fisher entered the game and surrendered a single and a walk. But the righthander retired 11 of the next 14 batters, using a fastball that painted both sides of the plate.

"I don't think I threw more than six breaking balls," Fisher said. "I was hitting my spots with my fastball, and that's how you win games."

West tied the score with three runs in the fifth as Danny O'Sullivan singled, Renna doubled, Fisher ripped a two-run triple, and senior designated hitter Anthony Canavatchel delivered a clutch, two-out, RBI double.

DelMonte stroked his second double leading off the bottom of the seventh. Alex Injaian followed with a single, and Renna sent the next pitch to center field to chase home DelMonte with the winning run.

Next thing he knew, Renna was on the ground with 20 guys trying to pound his back in celebration.

"It's a great feeling," Renna said.

Shawnee   0032000 - 571

Cherry Hill West   1100301 - 6121

WP: Andrew Fisher. LP: J.J. Fritsch. 2B: S-Connor Arsenault; CHW-Brenden DelMonte 2, Zach Renna, Anthony Canavatchel. 3B: CHW-Andrew Fisher. HR: S-Jarrett DeHart.