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The bats finally warmed up as temperatures cooled, and they sizzled tonight by racking up 15 hits, including four for extra bases, with three players recording multiple hits. Leading the offensive effort was Daniel Cuvet, who went 2-3 with a double and two RBIs. Michael Torres also went 2-3, including a double, and Alonzo Alverez matched that feat with another 2-3 performance. Bennett Gary and Brandon DeGoti contributed with doubles as well. Of the 18 batters, only six failed to record a hit; two of those reached base through other means or contributed to scoring with sacrifice flies. As the offense awoke from its dormancy, strikeouts slightly decreased to 11, though that number remains high relative to the innings played.
Opening the evening session under the lights were Lyndon Glidewell and Jake Dorn, both pitchers high on the pitching charts. After tonight, maybe not so for Jake. Whether the temps were just too cold for the Florida-born player or just a horrible, horrible night for him on the mound, he pitched 4 innings, three of which saw the batters take him to the cleaners. It started with the first batter he faced, Michael Torres, who opened with a single. Then Derek Williams and Daniel Cuvet followed with an RBI double. After walking his fifth batter, JD felt enough damage for the inning. In the second inning, things did not improve for Jake, opening with a walk, followed two batters later by Bennett Gary going down the RF line with an RBI double. For the second inning in a row, Jake was unable to record the final third out. In the third inning, he did manage to get the final out, but not before another run scored on an SF by Fabio Peralta. This was set up with an opening drop ball by Mason Greenhouse playing left, with Jailen Watkins ending up standing on second. When one is having a bad night, it doesn’t get better with Jackson Hugus with a single and Fabio following through with an SF to center. It took 4 innings, but Jake finally looked like the Jake we expect, retiring the side with a pair of strikeouts and no runs recorded. For Jake, chalk this up to a bad night, forget about it, and move forward.
Lyndon, despite the cold weather, showed resilience and delivered a notably strong performance. Unscored up tonight, he struck out six batters, walked only one, and remained unhit until the fourth inning. Given the challenging conditions, his teammates and coaches probably praised his effort, as he was impressive on the mound tonight.
Jack Durso and Michael Fernandez are next in rotation, just one inning each. Jack got himself in trouble with an opening walking Gabriel Milano, SAC to second on a nicely executed bunt by Jailen Watkins. He relinquished a second walk and was saved by the pitcher’s best friend, the 4-6-3 DP.
Michael, on the other hand, had to work through an early mistake by Blylan West on an APO at first. They had Jake Ogden with too much of a lead-off first, but West threw the ball wide to second. A single by Alvarez put runners on the corners. Michael got Cian Copeland to ground out 6-3 to escape a run-scoring threat. Among the pitchers I have seen, Michael has shown the greatest improvement since the fall session, when he had no control and seemed to walk everyone he faced. Not so far this preseason.
Our setup and closing efforts concluded the evening in a manner that was far from ideal for either of them. It was yet another frustrating night for our pitching staff. In fact, Packy Bradley-Conley’s performance was so problematic that JD may need to reconsider his options for the setup role. Michael Torres started the 6th inning with a double, followed by four consecutive singles from Williams, Cuvet, Sosa, and West, resulting in two runs. Packy did not manage to record a single out during his outing tonight.
Our closer, Ryan Bilka, delivered a less-than-stellar performance, but it was significantly better than Packy’s. Out of five batters faced, three recorded hits, including an RBI single by Gabriel Milano that drove in Brandon DeGoti, who had doubled earlier. This isn’t the kind of effort we expect from our setup and closer, and JD might chalk it up to weather or simply a bad night.
The remainder of the week is expected to bring weather similar to tonight’s. We hope our pitchers will perform more consistently as our batters work to recover from their slump and begin to challenge a pitching staff that maintained control until tonight. However, our defense continues to make costly mistakes, and they have two more weeks to improve. Failing to do so could lead to another frustrating season filled with errors and missed opportunities.
The next scrimmage is scheduled for Friday at 4PM and will last 7 1/2 innings. Expect similar weather conditions, with temperatures in the low 60s—please bring warm clothing. On Saturday, temperatures are forecasted to drop into the 50s. The game will start at 5:30PM, and activities will conclude on Sunday around 11:20AM
