Adam Patterson knew his pitcher had everything under control.Still, why go through all the hassle of
getting a batter out when you can just end the game with a pickoff?
The Catawba catcher and former
WestRowan star saved the game Tuesday, throwing out Barton College’s Josh Phares at
first base to abruptly take the wind out of the Bulldogs’ sails in the ninth inning.
Barton had scored four runs in the final frame and had the bases loaded before leaving
Newman Park with a 5-4 defeat.
“We run that pickoff play a
lot,”said Patterson, who got reliever Chad Secrest out of the tight jam.
“Secrest was going to get the batter out anyway, we just got them another way.”
Secrest, the fourth Catawba
pitcher of the game, inherited a dicey situation from Kenny Winkelsas, who started the
ninth inning with a 5-0 lead. But Barton’s Chris Scott blasted a two-run homer, Chris
Prezioso walked and Brian Hobbs and Scott Davis lined soft singles to load the bases with
no outs. Winkelsas walked Brent Bunn to make it 5-3, which is when Catawba coach Jim Gantt
called on Secrest to end the threat.
Ryan Ferrell’s sacrifice fly
pulled the Bulldogs to within a run, then a great curveball sent Leary Winslow to the
bench beforea walk to Phares loaded the bases yet again for Shane McCumbee, the 10th
batter of the inning. McCumbee took a ball before Secrest fired the next pitch for a
strike over the outside corner.
Patterson’s strike was even
better, as he leaped up and fired to TravisGoins at first base. The throw arrived in
plenty of time for the tag on the late-sliding Phares.
“That run means
nothing,” said Barton head coach Buddy Custer, whose team had the go-ahead run on
second. “We’ve got to be smarter than that, but it was a good job by the catcher
to come up throwing.”
And it couldn’t have come at
a better time.
“As far as the final out
goes, I’m just as happy to do that as I am to get the batter,”Gantt said.
“It would have been a whole lot nicer to get it 5-0.”
As well as Robbie Green and Brad
Esarey pitched for the first eight innings, the Catawba staff deserved a shutout. The
non-league game against the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference Bulldogs (15-24) was a
chance for theIndians to get some work in after a week off. For Green, who improved to
7-4, the start meant testing his arm after a sore elbow had limited his effectiveness.
Barton put runners at second and
third with one out to open the first inning before Green retired the side with a strikeout
and flyout. The Bulldogs struggled making solid contact after that. Green got a
double-play grounder in the second, three groundouts in the third and had a 1-2-3 fifth
inning, his last. He only threw 57 pitches and gave up three hits, walking one with two
strikeouts.
“I felt pretty good. My whole
arm felt better,”Green said. “I haven’t been able to throw my curve because
it hurt my elbow.”
Catawba (24-15) held a 4-0 lead
when Green left. The Indians’ Rowan County connection connected off Barton starter
Greg Johnson (2-6) for three runs in the first. David Trexler singled, stole second and
scored on fellow East product TravisGoins’ double. Patterson singled Goins home and
scored on a throwing error.
Goins singled in the third and was
balked to second. With two outs, he stole third and scored when the throw from Brent Bunn
sailed into left field. Trexler added Catawba’s fifth run in the fifth inning when he
doubled, moved to third on Israel Morrow’s sacrifice bunt and scored on
Johnson’s throwing error.
The five-run deficit may as well
have been 10-0 as much as Barton struggled with the bats. Life didn’t get any easier
when Green gave way to Esarey. The Indians’ reliever struck out the side in the
sixth, had an easy seventh and got a double play for a quick eighth inning.
“We weren’t able to get
any runners on early in the game,”Custer said. “We couldn’t do anything
against their first two pitchers.”
And when Barton got going against
the last two pitchers, a catcher was available for the save. |
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