For five innings, the Sal’s Pizza and Banks Chevrolet Concord Babe Ruth teams were locked in a pitchers’ duel.
But an explosive sixth inning for Sal’s gave them a 10-0 win via mercy rule, and consequently set the up the team’s pitching rotation well as they try to stay alive in the Concord Babe Ruth tournament this week.
Youth baseball coaches have to count pitches closely and manage their pitchers in line with league limits. Earning Monday’s win in six innings instead of seven made a potentially big difference for Sal’s.
Brooks Craigue started on the mound and threw fewer than 75 pitches, which means he can pitch again Wednesday. Jake Sullivan, Sal’s top hurler, entered in relief and kept his pitch count under 45, which allows him to pitch again Tuesday.
Sal’s is 1-1 in the double-elimination tournament and 8-6-1 this season. Each win adds another day to their season and brings them a step closer to Thursday’s championship game. Their next game is Tuesday against Kiwanis (1-1 in tournament play).
“This game was a boost for us,” Sal’s Pizza coach Gregg Stoddard said. “Managing pitching has been very important. You don’t want that (a 10-0 decision) to happen in games but it saved us pitches, which puts us in a better position going forward.”
Craigue, one of the younger players in the league at 13 years old, pitched four innings of one-hit ball and put away six batters on strikes.
“He’s pretty small in stature but he’s got great instincts for the game,” Stoddard said. “He threw strikes for us. When you can throw strikes and your defense makes plays, it makes the whole game a lot easier.”
Sullivan took over in the fifth and finished the shutout that Craigue started. Sullivan finished with four strikeouts and one hit allowed over two innings of work.
Sal’s scored its first run in the bottom of the second. Joey Ala bounced a hopper up the middle for a single and reached second on Mike Stoddard’s two-out single. Ala took off to steal third and the pickoff attempt sailed into shallow left, giving Ala the time he needed to reach home.
Left fielder Cedric Myler made a big defensive play for Sal’s that prevented Banks (6-9) from scoring a tying run in the fifth. Jonah Wachter roped a hit into left field and Myler fired a throw to home plate in time for catcher Isaiah Robles to tag Nathaniel Wachter at the dish.
“That was a huge play. Cedric Myler, our left fielder, had a little trouble and bobbled it a little bit but kept his composure and made a really good throw,” coach Stoddard said. “If it goes to 1-1 there, it could be a different game.”
Sal’s followed this up immediately in the bottom half as Mike Stoddard pulled a hit down the right-field line that was good enough for a triple. Stoddard scored moments later on a wild pitch.
Sal’s piled on eight runs in the sixth to finish the game. Craigue, Sullivan, Ala, Myler, Alex Reynolds, and CJ Escalera each scored one run in the frame, and Robles scored twice.
Jonah Wachter was the starting pitcher for Banks and was impressive with nine strikeouts over five innings. Banks threatened to score in several instances. The team placed runners in scoring position in every inning except for the second, and saw runners reach third base in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings.
“Jonah pitched very well for us,” Banks Chevrolet coach Andy Kastle said. “We just couldn’t get the bats going enough. Got a few unfortunate pickoffs and caught stealing, but other than that it was a pretty close game up until the sixth.”
The season ends for Banks, but Kastle reflected on a positive spring for his group.
“We had a good, young team,” he said. “Some kids that haven’t played before got a chance to play this year, so it was definitely a fun season.”
(Nick Stoico can be reached at nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)