From Staff Reports We’re almost running out of superlatives when talking about the exploits of Maranatha pitcher Dawson Netz. The 6-foot-1 junior has now gone 48 consecutive innings (a new CIF-SS record and counting) after shutting down visiting Cerritos Valley Christian, 2-0, on Tuesday night at Brookside Park. Netz, the area’s only unbeaten pitcher, […]
From Staff Reports
We’re almost running out of superlatives when talking about the exploits of Maranatha pitcher Dawson Netz.
The 6-foot-1 junior has now gone 48 consecutive innings (a new CIF-SS record and counting) after shutting down visiting Cerritos Valley Christian, 2-0, on Tuesday night at Brookside Park.
Netz, the area’s only unbeaten pitcher, is now 8-0 with a 0.10 ERA, and has struck out 88 batters in 56 innings.
On Tuesday, the hard-throwing right hander allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out 10 Crusaders’ batters.
Netz actually had a runner on first and the potential tying run at the plate when he got the CVC batter to ground into the 4-6-3 double play.
Maranatha has now won 12 consecutive games and their pitching staff has not surrendered a run in 40 consecutive innings.
The most recent showing of staff excellence like this was the 2009 Long Beach Millikan Rams, who went 43 innings without allowing a run behind their excellent coach Scott Glasser.
Maranatha can break that mark with four scoreless innings to begin Friday’s game if they’re able to hold the Crusaders from scoring before getting the first 12 outs.
Netz needed just 78 pitches to earn the victory and did so against a very solid CVC pitcher named Brett Garcia.
Garcia allowed just an earned run on four hits and he struck out six Maranatha batters.
Max Blessinger doubled and scored from the leadoff spot for MHS, and Dawson Netz singled and scored to help his own cause.
Ben Guess went 1 for 2 and drove in a run for the Minutemen.
James Stirton had the only Crusaders’ hit and walk of the evening.
Brock Vradenburg had a double for MHS.
Maranatha will travel to Cerritos on Friday afternoon to finish their series with Valley Christian.
With a win Friday, MHS would enter their final two games of the regular season with a two-game lead over the defending champions and their bitter Olympic League rivals at Village Christian.
Quotable:
Maranatha coach Matt Shupper: “Dawson has been on fire and has done so much to put us in a great position to try and win an Olympic League championship. He’s mixing all his pitches well and is hitting his spots. We have won 12 consecutive games, but there are many things we need to work on. (On Wednesday) we aren’t going to take any batting practice. We’re going to work on defense and base running. Overall, though, we’re obviously very happy where we’re at as a team.”
Valley Christian coach Roger Penticoff: “We knew that today would be a tough game with Netz on the mound. We knew that we would have to play very good defense and we also knew that we had to put some balls in play. We played very good defensively and we only allowed one earned run. Brett Garcia threw a very good game for us tonight. Maranatha is a very well-coached team, and the kids on that team play hard and they play with class. My team also played very hard. I think we had Maranatha worried a couple of times when we hit some balls very hard, but Maranatha was able to make the plays.”
Maranatha pitcher Dawson Netz: “I feel like the six days I’ve been getting off between really helps me recharge and makes it possible to be ready for each start. I also enjoy playing out in the field and hitting. I am happy with the streak we’re on as a team, and I’ve felt really confident on the mound. I always go out there thinking I need to be on my ‘A game’ to help give us the best chance of winning. We’re going to work hard to get better each day in the hopes of winning a league and CIF championship.”
Box Score:
CVC: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-(0)
MHS: 0-1-1-0-0-0-X-(2)
Win: Dawson Netz (8-0)
Loss: Brett Garcia
2B: Brock Vradenburg (M), Max Blessinger (M)
Records: Cerritos Valley Christian (10-14, 1-8)
“Photos and video courtesy of Dan Netz.”
