Coatesville downs West Chester East to stay in Ches-Mont baseball contention
EAST GOSHEN - The Coatesville baseball team stayed in close contact with first-place Downingtown West Monday with a solid 7-2 Ches-Mont League win over West Chester East at Price Field. The Red Raiders stayed a half game behind the league-leading Whippets.
Coatesville (12-2 Ches-Mont, 14-2 overall) pounded out 13 hits and received a superb starting pitching effort from Zach Daller. Jayden Guiseppe delivered three hits and came in relief of Daller on the mound and pitched two shutout innings.
"I was seeing the ball really well at the plate today," Guiseppe said. "I have been struggling at the plate but when all the guys start hitting it seems everyone gets into the act.
"Coming in relief today I felt really strong on the mound. My fastball was really live and this was a total team win. If we hit the ball like we did today we are going to be very tough."
The Raiders jumped on Vikings (6-7, 8-8) starter Aidan Kaligonis in the top of the second inning for the game's first run. AJ Rubincam started things with a sharp single to left field. Guiseppe lined an RBI single to score Rubincam, who had stolen second base, and Coatesville had an early 1-0 lead.
Coatesville went right at Kaligonis again in the top of the third inning. Shane Monaghan led off with a single. Nuge Willard followed with a hard double to right center, putting men on second and third with no one out. Adam Clark then hit a hard grounder that ate up the Vikings' first baseman, scoring two more Raiders runs and to make it 3-0.
"The whole team really put it together today," Monaghan said. "We have been working very hard in the batting cages and everybody hit the baseball today. We got runs early and everybody felt good going to the plate."
Coatesville extended its lead in the top of the fourth inning when Willard hit a two-run single and Clark knocked in a run with a groundout to shortstop. The Vikings pulled Kaligonis from the game in favor of Tyler Gallczyk, but Coatesville had a 6-0 lead.
East stranded runners on base against Daller in each of the first three innings but broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning when Chase Ruderrow worked a one out walk. Dan Zytkowicz followed with a ringing double to right field, putting Vikings runners on second and third with one out. Chris Costa soared a long sacrifice fly to center, scoring Rudderrow and East sliced the margin to 6-1.
Coatesville scored again in the top of the fifth inning when Guiseppe ripped an RBI double to score Dylan Jeffers, who had singled and it was 7-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, East's Jonah Trueman led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch. After a fly ball out, Owen Rozzi singled to right field and Derek Rozzi walked to load the bases with just one out.
Rudderrow stayed hot and laced an RBI single for the second Vikings run and the bases were still loaded with just one out. Daller got the next two outs, however, to quell the Vikings rally and East had stranded three more men on base.
Guiseppe came in relief of Daller in the bottom of the sixth inning after Daller threw 84 pitches in his five innings of work. Guiseppe struck out the side in the sixth and stranded Owen Rozzi, who singled, at first base, and the Raiders had a very impressive win with the pitching and offense coming through.
"The kids have really worked hard in the cages on their hitting and they showed that today," Coatesville coach Hal Ziegler said. "We started out the season hitting the ball well and then it seemed, after the Easter break, we went into a little funk. But today we really came out of it. I was really pleased with the at bats today. I think the kids are playing loose again and that is a good thing."
Coatesville 7, West Chester East 2
Coatesville 012 310 0 – 7
W.C. East 000 110 0 – 2
WP – Daller. LP – Kalogonis.
2B – Willard, Guiseppe, Jeffers.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 9:27 PM.