DANVILLE -- Jon Wilson wasn't exactly lights out in the first inning against Danville, but the Berwick pitcher sure was in the next six innings.
In the first, Wilson faced seven batters, gave up three hits and got out of the inning with the bases loaded, but didn't throw to more than four batters in any inning after that to lead Berwick's American Legion team to a 6-1 elimination bracket win on Friday.
Berwick will play another elimination game today against Bloomsburg, an 8-1 loser to Selinsgrove on Friday, for a chance to play for the Susquehanna Valley Legion League title. Wilson sure did his part to get Berwick to the next round.
"Monday he goes against Sunbury/Norry and throws 125 pitches, comes here and throws (121), he's just amazing," Berwick manager Joe Papada said. "I don't know what else to say. He's just fantastic."
With two outs in the first, Dan Winnie started a Danville rally with his double to the right-center gap. Kyle Mundy singled to drive him in, and after Todd Deroba walked Chris Bohan singled to load the bases. But Wilson got the next batter to strike out to end the inning and the biggest threat he faced all game.
Wilson, who had eight strikeouts, allowed lonely hits in the second, third and fourth innings and got out of runner-on-third trouble in two of those instances.
"(Wilson's) a good pitcher and we were swinging at some bad pitches," Danville manager Harold Albertson said. "But, the strike zone was up and down and that kind of dictated how things went."
While Danville struggled to make consistent great contact, Mike Smith, Andrew Shoop and Dan Winnie all had doubles against Wilson; they also had a few defensive hiccups and they seemed to pile up in the fifth inning.
Taking advantage of a few misplays with some well-timed hits, Berwick scored five times in the fifth, eclipsing Danville's 1-0 lead.
Robert Albertson, who opened the inning by reaching on an error, Wilson, Lou Ney, Scott Berkes and A.J. Mihaly all scored in the frame. Then, an inning later, Ney scored again on a sac fly by A.J. Mihaly to make the score 6-1.
With players out of position and a good number of youngsters on his squad, Albertson said he couldn't be critical of the effort from the kids on the field. But, he admitted Danville's miscues in the field were costly in both playoff games.
Notes: Berwick's Scott Berkes was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs, and A.J. Mihaly had a pair of RBIs and Lou Ney scored a pair of runs.
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