By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor One way or the other, ether Poly or La Salle was going to lose a game their respective starting pitchers deserved to win. Poly’s Matt Queen went into the fifth with a 1-0 lead and the junior lefty allowed just an unearned run on four hits and struck out four. […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
One way or the other, ether Poly or La Salle was going to lose a game their respective starting pitchers deserved to win.
Poly’s Matt Queen went into the fifth with a 1-0 lead and the junior lefty allowed just an unearned run on four hits and struck out four.
Queen escaped a couple of jams by getting Lancers’ batters to pop out.
La Salle’s Zane Lindeman went six strong innings, allowing an unearned run on two hits and the junior right-hander struck out 10 batters.
In the end, it was Lindeman who got the win, as did the Lancers, 2-1, Thursday night in a spirited and quality nonleague baseball game at Arcadia County Park.
Poly got on the board in the top of the first when Queen reached base on an error and Ty Evans drove him home with a double.
Queen held the Lancers scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning.
Ethan Patrick led off the inning with a triple and that’s where things got weird.
Just as Queen was about to face Noah Zate, the sprinklers in the outfield went off and it caused a 10-minute delay.
Before Queen could make a first-pitch after the game resumed, he attempted to pick off Patrick at third and it went down the left-field line.
Patrick jogged home to even the game at 1-1.
Poly coach Steve Beerman pulled Queen and brought in Matt Loomis.
Loomis allowed a single to Zate and Justin Zuniga followed and laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Zate to second.
Sammy Martinez drew a walk with one out and with Zate at third, Martinez stole second base.
Zate, though, got a little too far off the base, and was gunned down at third by Franco Alonso.
The inning was not over, though, as Lindeman helped his own cause and singled home Martinez for what turned out to be the game-winning run.
Zuniga came on in the seventh and mowed down the Panthers in order.
Patrick went 2 for 4 with a triple and a run scored.
Zate had two hits and Brennan Mace had a double for the Lancers.
Ty Evans’ double and Queen’s sixth-inning single were the two Poly hits on Thursday night.
Lindeman retired 12 consecutive batters between the second and sixth innings and he picked up seven strikeouts between the fourth and sixth innings, including the side in the fourth.
Quotable:
Poly coach Steve Beerman: “Matt Queen hadn’t been on the mound or thrown for a while, so we were really happy with what he gave us tonight. Games like this only make us better and we played well against a very good baseball team.”
Poly pitcher Matt Queen: “I felt really good on the mound tonight. My fastball wasn’t great today, but my curve ball and slider was working and dropping in for strikes. It was a good opportunity to get out there and face a good hitting team. I feel like I’m ready to do my part in helping us wins games and I have a lot of confidence in the other pitchers as well.”
La Salle coach Mike Parisi: “It was good to see Zane throw 88 pitches and strike out 10. I was very happy to see him pitch well. He is our workhorse. Ethan Patrick is our catalyst and gets the big triple and scored on the error. We just grinded it out. I thought the sprinkler impacted both pitchers and both teams. I want to see us improve and make the routine plays defensively.”
La Salle shortstop Ethan Patrick: “As a leadoff person, I just need to get on and get some momentum. We were hitting the ball hard and they made some good plays. I knew if we kept fighting we’d break through. Zane did great. He really picked us up and it’s good to see him back.”
La Salle pitcher Zane Lindeman: “I had my fastball working early on and it’s good to establish your fastball and throw strikes and get ahead. I’m not really thinking about run support, I just got to go out and pitch my game. Justin is one of the best closers in the Del Rey League. He has filthy stuff and we have all the confidence in the world in him.”
Box Score:
Poly: 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-(1)
La Salle: 0-0-0-0-2-0-X-(2)
Win: Zane Lindeman
Loss: Matt Loomis
Save: Justin Zuniga
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