The Lakewood Lancers took advantage of some rusty pitching by the Jordan Panthers, and got a pleasant surprise from a rusty pitcher of their own last night at Blair Field.  Senior Jonathan Worrell sat out the first few weeks of the season with medical issues, and in his second start of the year, didn’t give up a hit in five innings of work as the Lancers mashed their way to a 14-1 victory.

The Lakewood offense jumped on Jordan starter Ismael Lara in the top of the first with four runs on four hits and a walk.  The senior lefty had not thrown for almost a month because of elbow soreness, and the Lancers didn’t give him a chance to get settled in.  They batted around the order three times in the first three innings and finished the night with 15 hits.

Junior Anthony Razo set the table for the Lakewood offense from the two spot as he went 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple, an RBI and three runs scored.  Senior shortstop Matt Duffy stayed hot in the middle of the lineup going 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI.

With two men on in the second inning, the Lancers really opened it up on a wild play at the plate.  Lara’s pitch bounced off of catcher Pedro Torres and rolled to the left of home plate.  Razo came to the plate from third, and Torres tried a one-handed backhand throw to his pitcher, who was coming hard to cover.  The ball simultaneously hit Lara’s glove and Razo’s helmet, and went up the first baseline as Lara and Razo collided.  Razo was ruled safe and the second run came in while Lara lay behind the plate.  The smaller Razo hit Lara at such an angle that upended the big lefty and landed him square on his back.

Jordan coach Marc Prager came out to argue, “In my interpretation, the high school baseball rule is that a runner must slide to avoid contact.  It’s a safety rule… he’s got to slide there, no matter if he’s out or safe, so the guy can make the catch without colliding like they did.”

But Lakewood coach Spud O’Neil agreed with the umpire’s call of safe because, “The player has to be planted there at the bag or the plate.  They were both running when the ball came to the plate.  It was the right call.”

The call shook up Lara and the rest of the Panthers, as eight Lancer runs and five Jordan errors followed in the second and third inning.

Jordan pitchers Danny Puente, David Aispuro, and ace Marcos Lara (who got one inning of work in before his start on Friday (1IP, 1H, 2K)) did a fantastic job of staying aggressive against the Lakewood hitters, and held them scoreless after the third inning.

But the best pitching performance no doubt goes to Worrell, who battled kidney stones before the season, and used his lively fastball to no-hit the Panthers though five innings while striking out seven. 

“The coaches have brought me back slowly,” says Worrell, who still enjoys a 0.00 ERA after his seventh inning of work this season.  “It feels so good to be back… I love this mound at Blair… once I settled in and got on top, my fastball was on.”

It’s also nice to return to the rotation with 14 runs of support and Worrell got in on the action, helping himself by going 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored.

“We should be doing that every game… We need to get out in front, and take away the other team’s game.”