Baseball's Dominant Pitching Takes Two Wins

Posted On : April 30, 2011
Baseball's Dominant Pitching Takes Two Wins
Rodriguez (left), Wellander (middle, and Hammaker (right) combine for a less than one ERA on the day. Photos by Joel Auerbach and Jim Hogue.
MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—For the third time in school history, the Barry baseball team earned a trip to the NCAA Regionals with a 2-1 win in 13 innings against the Lynn Fighting Knights and then a 4-1 win in game two on Saturday. The day also honored the eight seniors on the squad.

The Buccaneer pitching staff answered the call in a big way by giving their team 20 innings with only two runs allowed and posting an incredible 0.90 earned run average.

Game one needed extra innings to decide a victor as both starting pitcher tossed late in the game with Barry starter Manny Rodriguez going nine and Lynn starter Andrew Virgili going eight and one-third.

Lynn struck first in the top of the third to take an early lead. Rodriguez started the inning by walking the first two batters. After Austin Smith singled through the right side, the bases were loaded with only one out. Mike Diorio then reached on fielder's choice to score Alex Bello and give Lynn the 1-0 lead. Rodriguez then retired the next batter to battle his way out of the jam.

The Bucs answered to tie things up in the bottom of the fourth. Matt Petty started the inning off with a one out single through the left side of the infield followed by a stolen base. With Petty on second and one out, Lyndon Coleman grounded out to the second baseman to advance Petty to third with one out. Manny Pedrozo then delivered for the Bucs with a two-out single to right field to knot things up at 1-1.

Rodriguez went nine innings before being relieved by Jordan Wellander. After retiring his first batter, Wellander gave up back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Lynn first baseman, Anthony Boza then grounded out to short to advance the go ahead run to third base. With two outs, Wellander forced a pop-out to first to end the Lynn threat in the ninth.

Then, in the top of the 10th inning, the Buccaneers threatened. Dwelly blasted a one-out single up the middle and stole second. Adrian English drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one out for Buccaneer star, Dean Green. Green grounded a hard-hit ball to first. Boza's throw to second was offline but stopped by Lynn short stop Kyle Radzewski. Dwelly rounded third on the play and was thrown out in a run down between third and home. With runners on the corners and two outs, Petty popped out to the first baseman to end the inning.

Then again in the 11th, Lynn set themselves up to take the lead. Wes Soto singled to left with one out followed by a Bello double down the left field line to put runners on the corners with two outs. Kyle Radzewski ended the inning with a harmless ground out to second as Wellander preserved the tie for the Bucs.

Both pitchers pitched a clean 12th to bring the heart of the lineup up for the Bucs in the bottom of the 13th. Petty started the inning off with a single up the middle then Coleman advanced Petty to second on a sac bunt. Manny Pedrozo then flied out to deep center field and Petty tagged to move to third. With two outs, Chris Leon stepped up to the plate and belted the 1-1 pitch up the middle to score Petty on the walk-off single and take the 2-1 win.

In addition to Rodriguez's nine innings, the junior gave up only five hits and one run while striking out eight. Wellander went four innings of scoreless four-hit baseball. Petty led the Bucs offensively on a 2-4 day while scoring both Buccaneer runs.

Game two started just after 5:00 p.m. with Brett Hammaker on the mound for the Bucs. Hammaker set the fighting knights down in order in the first and the Bucs loaded the bases for Coleman in the bottom of the frame. The game then went into a two hour lightning/rain delay.

After the game resumed at 7:35 p.m., Coleman was hit by a pitch to score English. Then another senior stepped in the form of Pedrozo doubling down the left field line scoring Green and Petty. Coleman rounded third and was thrown out diving back into third on the Pedrozo double. After one, Barry took a 3-0 advantage.

Barry added another run in the third to increase their lead to four. English started off the inning with a single down the left field line then moved to second on a Green single to right field. After a Coleman strikeout, Lynn pitcher Shawn Kale loaded the bases with a Pedrozo walk. English then dashed home to extend the Buccaneer advantage on a Kale wild pitch.

In the sixth, Lynn loaded the bases with three-straight singles to put the Hammaker in a hole with no outs in the inning. Boza singled through the right side to score one and keep the pressure on the Barry defense and represented the tying run at first. The senior pitcher struck out the next batter and forced shallow fly-outs on the next two Lynn batters to end the inning with only minimal damage.

Hammaker returned to the mound in the top of the seventh and retired the Fighting Knights in order and earn his eighth win of the season and third complete game.

Barry concludes the three-game series against the Lynn Fighting Knight tomorrow starting at 1:00 p.m. at the friendly confines of Feinbloom Field. Live coverage can always be heard on the Buccaneer Broadcasting Network starting just before the first pitch.


Barry 2, Lynn 1
(04/30/11 at Miami Shores, Fla.)
(Game 1)
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Lynn................ 001 000 000 000 0 - 1 9 1 (24-20, 8-11 SSC)
Barry............... 000 100 000 000 1 - 2 9 1 (33-15, 18-4 SSC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Lynn - Andrew Virgili; Jason Whelan(9); Collin McGowan(10); Sam Jones(13) and
Dane Derstine. Barry - Manny Rodriguez; Jordan Wellander(10) and Chris Leon.
Win-Jordan Wellander(4-2) Loss-Collin McGowan(1-4) T-3:56 A-0
Weather: Cloudy Showers in the Vicinity
Game: BB0430A

Barry 4, Lynn 1
(04/30/11 at Miami Shores, Fla.)
(Game 2)
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Lynn................ 000 001 0 - 1 8 1 (24-22, 17-6 SSC)
Barry............... 301 000 X - 4 6 0 (35-15, 19-4 SSC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Lynn - Shawn Kale and Dane Derstine. Barry - Brett Hammaker and Luis Arrizurieta.
Win-Brett Hammaker(8-2) Loss-Shawn Kale(4-2) T-2:10 A-247
Weather: cloudy
Game: BB0430B