Williamstown advances to semifinals

It's not that Kyle Grim enjoys pitching with runners on base.

It's just that the pressure-packed situation doesn't bother him.

"I've been there a lot," Grim said after leading Williamstown to a 3-1 victory over Cherry Hill West in the second round of the South Jersey Group 4 baseball tournament on Friday.

Grim pitched a complete game and Jake Goffredi and Zach Dardaris delivered RBI hits as fourth-seeded Williamstown (15-8) advanced to the sectional semifinals for the second year in a row.

The Braves will face top-seeded Eastern on Tuesday.

Senior Brandon Perna worked five strong innings, allowing just one earned run, and sophomore A.J. Wright rapped an RBI double for fifth-seeded Cherry Hill West (15-9).

"Our margin for error has been razor-thin this year," Cherry Hill West coach Dan McMaster said. "We always found a way to push those runs across. But today, we didn't do that, and we didn't catch the ball."

Pitching in cold, blustery conditions, Grim allowed 10 hits and issued a rare walk - just his second in 481/3 innings this season.

But the senior righthander was at his best when it mattered most.

He got the third out with a runner on third base in the second, third, and fourth innings. He allowed a run in the seventh, but worked out of a second-and-third, one-out jam with a strikeout and soft groundout against the Lions' Nos. 3 and 4 hitters.

"He's got the perfect combination of movement and location," Williamstown coach Jim Ambrosious said.

Grim, who improved to 8-0, said he threw a fastball, curveball, and change-up. He said his ability to throw three pitches for strikes and the movement on his off-speed stuff compensates for his lack of velocity.

Grim said he is used to pitching with runners on base. He got a pop out with runners on second and third in the second, a comebacker to the mound with runners on second and third in the third, and a ground out with runners on first and third in the fourth.

With runners on second and third in the seventh, Grim got a strikeout, looking, and a chopper that Dardaris, the catcher, fielded before firing to first for the final out.

"I don't want to be used to it," Grim said of pitching with runners on base. "But I trust my fielders and just try to attack the zone. We work hard as a pitching staff so we feel like in big spots, we're going to come through."

Cherry Hill West 000 000 1 - 1 10 4

Williamstown 010 020 x - 3 8 0

WP: Kyle Grim. LP: Brandon Perna. 2B: CHW-Will Allen, A.J. Wright; W-Jake Goffredi.