The gathered media at Blair Field last night had one question for Wilson head coach Andy Hall after his Bruins beat the Lakewood Lancers, 1-0, in Moore League action.
“Coach, if I told you that you would have two hits, two errors and one run, while Lakewood had nine hits, and you ended up winning, would you have believed me?”
Hall shook his head with a smile, “I would’ve said you’re absolutely crazy.”
But that was the story last night in front of about 2,500 high school baseball fans as Wilson pitchers Kyle Ritter and Riley Parker combined for the nine-hit shutout of one of the most potent lineups in the Nation. All the Wilson scoring came in the first inning when Myles Mendez chopped one to short to score Keith White, and that would be the only run of the night, an unearned run at that.
CLICK HERE to watch the highlight video
CLICK HERE to listen to the archived radio broadcast with Rob Buskas and some special guests
CLICK HERE to see the pictures taken by Stephen Dachman
Said Lakewood head coach Spud O’Neil, “that was some great high school baseball… we had our opportunities with the right guys up and we played hard, but we just didn’t get it done.”
The Lancers stranded 11 runners in the seven innings, seven of them in scoring position. They also got the great pitching they needed from sophomore Shane Watson. The 6’3″ righty stayed calm and in control after the Bruins took the early lead and went the distance, allowing just two hits and striking out four. Aside from the two hits, only three other balls left the infield for the Wilson hitters.
But on the other side, Ritter and Parker were just as impressive. They just did their work like a high wire act. Ritter (who found out he was getting the ball Thursday after practice) left four runners in scoring position before Parker came in for the two-inning save. The junior saw ten batters and got out of jams in both innings, but no one will forget the final two outs of the night.
CLICK HERE to watch the highlight video
With runners at first and third and one out, Lakewood captain Jeff Yamaguchi was ahead in the count 3-0 and it looked like Parker was pitching around the senior. But on the next pitch, Yamaguchi took a good cut and missed a go-ahead single by inches. He popped it up for the second out, and three pitches later after a ground out, the Bruins had completed the upset that hands the Lancers their first loss of the season.
“I take the blame on that one,” said O’Neil about the decision to let Yamaguchi swing away. “He’s been in that situation before and come through for us, and we told him to sit on the pitch… he thought it was the one and we thought we’d get a sac fly out of it at least… but I’m not going to second guess myself.”
“The pitching and the defense tonight… it’s a credit to this team’s overall mental toughness,” said Hall. “Ritter is a perfect example of that the way he went out there and just gritted it out. He and Parker, they’re just mentally tough.”
That mental toughness will be put to the test again almost immediately as the Bruins have a Redondo Tournament game with Loyola this morning at 10am. Asked if he will rest some players, Hall scoffed, “oh (heck) no, we’re on a four-game winning streak!”
The win is Wilson’s first in the Moore League this season, and they will try to stay perfect in league when they Millikan on Wednesday. Lakewood falls to 1-1 in the Moore League and they will return home to take on Cabrillo on Wednesday.