Corey Schnoke-Twin Valley

Four sophomores and two freshmen in the starting lineup, plus a first-year head coach. That should add up to a slow start to the season. The Twin Valley baseball team had other ideas. The Raiders opened 2022 with five consecutive wins. They averaged nearly ten runs per game. Corey Schnoke, a 1993 ELCO graduate, is making the transition from assistant to head coach. We talked about how things have changed drastically for Schnoke, and how he’s trying to change the culture in Elverson. He said, “We’re going to compete differently; we won’t lay down. As long as we have outs to give, we’re going to come at you.” Schnoke believes the future is very bright for his ball club. Twin Valley went (11-10, 6-5) last year. Matt Passerini, Danny Eden, Koy Zdimal, and Kyler McGowan all graduated. They led a squad that lost 6-1 to top-seeded Wilson in the Berks County quarterfinals. Passerini and Eden were All-Berks selections. Zdimal and McGowan made the all-division team. Junior Kannon Zdimal has taken over as the ace of the Raiders’ pitching staff. His younger brother, Kooper, is starting at shortstop as a freshman. Owen Rhoads (3B/P), Paul Colombo (1B), Ben Spiri (CF/P), and Roman Cieless (2B) make up a promising sophomore group. Jaydon Goebel, a junior, will be behind the plate and in the cleanup spot. Kannon Zdimal, who has a fastball in the mid-80’s, was very sharp in the league opener at Exeter on Friday. He held the Eagles to two hits and one run over five frames. Zdimal piled up seven strikeouts while walking two. Schnoke thought the right-hander did a good job of keeping the hitters off-balance. Exeter scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 3-1 victory. The go-ahead run came across after a wild pitch by Rhoads. The baseball got caught in the padding of the backstop which prompted Schnoke to argue that it should have been ruled a dead ball in play. The umpires, however, didn’t send the runner back to third base. Schnoke gave me his interpretation of that rule. Colin Payne followed with a pinch-hit RBI single and Luke Weller tossed a hitless seventh inning for the save. Weller led off the sixth with a triple to right field. The senior also made a terrific catch at shortstop. Schnoke gave credit to the (4-1) Eagles’ defense. Deven Sheerin had nine strikeouts and just one walk over six innings. Cieless gave the (5-1) Raiders a 1-0 advantage with an RBI single in the second. Twin Valley managed five hits, including a double by freshman Ben Vaughan. Schnoke emphasized that his young players will learn from the experience of being in a tight game versus a quality opponent. The former Daniel Boone assistant coach thinks Division 2 will come down to the Raiders and Muhlenberg. They square off Wednesday night in Laureldale.