On the back of a dominant pitching performance from Rocco Bazzano-Joseph, McAuley hung crooked numbers up in its last four at-bats to build an insurmountable lead in an 11-2 win over Greenfield on Friday at Joe Becker Stadium.
With Bazzano-Joseph dealing a shutout on the mound, the Warriors (5-3) and Wildcats (0-7) took a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning when McAuley struck for three runs with two outs. The Warriors added insurance an inning later when four runs touched the plate in the fourth before two more runs scored in the fifth and sixth frames to build a commanding lead en route to the win.
“I was glad to see our guys come out, play and get past the loss to Exeter last week when we did not play well,” McAuley coach Bryan Jones said. “Defensively, we played well today and had a lot of guys get some chances. I liked seeing the guys get to hit the ball. We had a few guys come off the bench and succeed, which I love to see. I was proud of them.”
ON THE MOUND
Bazzano-Joseph earned the win after striking out 11 batters in five no-hit innings on 67 pitches. He walked one. Michael Parrigon allowed two runs on two hits, a walk and five strikeouts in two relief innings.
“We haven’t gotten a lot of work out of Rocco this season because of the weather,” Jones said. “The one thing I saw that Rocco did well was he started with strikes, and he had command of his fastball and his breaking ball. He did a great job of setting the tone and the pace.”
Austin Pickett took the loss after allowing eight runs, three earned, on five hits, four walks and seven strikeouts in four innings.
GAME ACTION
McAuley broke a scoreless tie with three two-out runs crossing the plate in the last of the third inning. Joe Staton led off the inning with an infield hit on a ground ball up the middle that ricocheted off the pitcher. He was driven in two batters later on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Jack Jones to make the score 1-0.
“We didn’t do a great job early of recognizing the pitch to hit,” Jones said. “We just didn’t adjust up front. The two-out at-bat by Jack kind of opened the floodgates and gave us the momentum and we carried it into the next inning.”
Kable Reichardt followed with a walk and both runners came around to score on a throwing error by Greenfield with the throw from the catcher ending up in left field on a double steal.
The Warriors added insurance an inning later when Bradley Wagner doubled to left field to lead off the inning before scoring two batters later on a single to center by Tripp Miller to push the lead to 4-0. After another run scored on a Greenfield throwing error after a chopper back to the pitcher, Jones knocked in two more runs with a two-out double to center field to push the lead to 7-0.
“We gave him a rest in the field but wanted him to get some swings in,” Jones said of his designated hitter on Friday. “He did a good job today. He’s been working hard in the cage looking for his pitch to drive. … He is there for that reason. We need him to come up big and he did.”
The Warriors loaded the bases with one out in the fifth inning before Staton singled to center to bring home a run for an eight-run lead. Bazzano-Joseph picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice later in the frame for a 9-0 lead.
After Greenfield touched home twice in the top of the sixth on a two-run triple from Delton Greene, Reichardt drove home a run in the sixth on a groundout. Another run came in on a wild pitch later in the inning.
IN THE BOX
Jones had two hits, three RBI and scored a run to lead McAuley at the plate. Staton had two hits, scored a run and drove in one. Miller had a hit, scored a run and drove in one. Kevin Tran and Wagner each had a hit and scored.
