For Wilson pitcher Tommy Nance, the long road back to 100% healthy always had a game against Lakewood at the end of it.  Six months ago Nance suffered a back injury, and yesterday in his third start of the year he tossed a complete-game shutout over the Lancers, 4-0.

“Tommy wanted to pitch in the first game against Lakewood,” said Wilson coach Andy Hall.  “Coach Jeff Baumback has done a great job bringing him back along slowly… it’s great to have a guy out there throwing strikes.

Nance went the distance and only faced three hitters over the minimum while striking out four and giving up four hits.  The senior worked ahead of hitters all game long, continuously throwing first ball strikes and getting the leadoff hitter.  Nance worked hard in the early innings to spot the knee-high fastball, and in doing so, he only allowed one leadoff hitter to get on base.

“It felt good out there,” said Nance, who suffered a stress fracture of the spine last summer.  “I just wanted to throw strikes… it’s nice to be 100% again.”

The Bruin bats gave Nance all he needed in the first inning, scoring all of their runs the first time though the order against Lancer starter Matt Duffy.  Wilson played small ball to get the first run after Phil Visico walked to lead off the game.  A sac bunt and an RBI single from Cody Harris got the Bruins on the board.  Two batters later Bryan Haver knocked in two runs with a triple that one hopped the wall in left.

The loss is the third straight Moore League loss for the Lancers, who have only scored three runs in the last 21 innings of league play.  Those three games were against the some of the best pitchers in the league like Nance, Poly’s Mario Gordon, and Millikan’s Josh Frye.  Lakewood (4-3) is now tied for second with Poly and Wilson.

“I’m really pleased,” said Hall, whose team won some games over the spring break against quality opponents.  “We are starting to play with confidence… a lot of these first year varsity players have almost an entire year of experience now, and it shows.  It’s nice to see the growth.”

One of the catalysts for the Bruins new found confidence is Haver.  To go along with his two-run triple, the third baseman made the play of the game on a chopper off the bat of Nick Gosano.  Haver charged hard and picked the ball off a short hop.  He got the ball out of his glove quickly and gunned Gosano at first base with an off balance throw.

“Are we a bona fide contender for the Moore League crown?  I’m not sure, but we’re peaking at the right time.”