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West End’s pitching depth showcases the number of arms it has to throw

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End’s Briar Persing pitched s complete game as West End beat Media in five innings during the Babe Ruth 13-16 year old Pennsylvania state tournament at Logue Field in July. Persing is one of a number of solid pitchers West End has to throw and the team’s pitching has helped West End reach the Babe Ruth World Series in Branson, Missouri.

When you’re facing West End, there’s one thing that’s for sure: hits will be tough to come by. That’s because West End’s 13-16-year-old all-star team has depth on the mound with five outstanding players who can deliver results.

In addition to a potent offense, West End’s pitching staff has helped carry the team to a Pennsylvania state championship and Mid-Atlantic Regional championship this summer. And, they’re hoping to add one more plaque to the collection as they head to the Babe Ruth World Series tournament in Branson, Missouri. The World Series begins on Saturday with pool play competition.

“When you have basically two or three No. 1s at their own high schools, it’s good to have that all on one staff. If someone is having a bad day, you can just go to the next guy and they pick them right up. When you’re looking at four or five deep with no problems whatsoever, at this point, I think we’ve had one bad inning in eight games, you know?” West End manager Marc Hess said. “It’s a really, really good problem to have with the depth that we have.”

That pitching staff includes Montgomery ace Briar Persing. The Red Raider threw a gem in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game with a 13-strikeout, two-hit effort. The team also has players like Williamsport’s Cole Deitrick and LJ Hill who can help shut down and slow an opposing battery.

Persing, Deitrick, Hill, Wyatt Bair and Trey Damschroder have all thrown this postseason for West End, and that group has been lights out, not to mention others West End can throw.

“There’s kids that are on our team that we haven’t even pitched yet. They’ve had a lot of innings in high school and everything, but we haven’t had a chance to get them in and pitch them at end of games yet because we’ve been so dominant we just left the guys in because their pitch count has been so low,” Hess said. “We haven’t had to play the extra game or go into a losers’ bracket.”

In the Mid-Atlantic Regional semifinals, West End cruised to an 11-2 win against Franklin Township of New Jersey. That win came on behalf of Deitrick throwing four standout innings and Hill closing out the game. Combined they allowed just four singles and two runs.

It’s that type of pitching effort which has been huge for this West End all-star run this year.

“Briar and Cole have been pretty incredible and then having a lot of people who can just throw innings when we need, makes it a lot easier to win games,” West End’s Wyatt Bair said.

Having that depth has been invaluable, especially against teams who have the ability to put balls in play and drive in runs.

“We have a lot of variety we can choose from,” West End’s Mason Hess said. “There’s a lot of guys (who can throw) we can trust.”

West End’s pitching held its opponents in states to just five combined runs, three of which came from Ridley in a 13-3 win. In regionals, Union City, New Jersey scored five runs. Other than that, West End posted two shutouts and held Franklin, New Jersey to just two runs.

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