Apr 06, 2008 - 07:37:35 CDT
Matt Chuppe and James Carroll were brilliant. Stephen Laylock and MichaelSteve were close to perfect.Close to perfect won 1-0 at chilly, breezy Haaland Field onSaturday as Dickinson right-handers Laylock and Steve fired a no-hitter at St. Mary's.
St. Mary's came back to win the second game in another pitchers' duel, 3-2.
With temperatures in the lower 40s and winds gusting over 20 mph blasting hitters in the face, pitchers were in ascendence. Laylock and Steve permitted only two Saints to reach base - one was hit by a pitch and the other reached base via error.
Working in the cold with a tailwind, Laylock pitched aggressively.
"Ithrew,I'd say, 10 offspeed pitches," he said. "Iwas just kind of picking up the pace. Iwanted to get at the batters and keep my arm warm."
Laylock, who won the state championship game last spring as a freshman, fired 72 pitches in his first outing, 46 for strikes. He struck out nine in five innings.
Steve, a junior, picked up his second save with two perfect innings that included four whiffs.
St.Mary's right-handers Chuppe and Carroll weren't far behind. They limited Dickinson to three hits. Two other Midgets reached base on a walk and an error.
Tyler Steffan, the first batter of the game, scored the only run.
Chuppe let Steffan get away on a 3-and-2 pitch to start the first inning. Laylock bunted Steffan to second and four pitches later he stole third.
Steffan scored when Carroll, the right fielder, dropped Cole Frenzel's sinking liner for an error.
And the scoring was over.
Four other Midgets reached scoring position, two advancing to third, to no avail.
The St. Mary's runners were stranded at second and third.
Laylock hit Drew Eichele with a pitch with two out in the bottom of the first.Courtesy runner Cole Winbauer stole second a pitch before D.J.Schmitz fanned to end the inning.
JonHerold reached base to lead off to start the fifth when Dickinson shortstop Cole Frenzel threw wide to first after fielding a ground ball up the middle. Herold moved to second on Nick Bury's bunt and reached third on a pitch in the dirt by Laylock with Carroll at the plate.
With the count full, Saints coach BenSchafer put a squeeze play on and Carroll missed the bunt for a strikeout. Herold was retired in the resulting rundown, yielding a weird 2-5-1 double play.
Schafer said the Saints wasted a ton of good pitching in the 1-0 setback.
"I'm disappointed in our hitting mechanics," he said. "... (Laylock) was throwing hard, I'll give the kid credit. But when you know a fastball is coming you've got to be able to hit it."
Steve said he wasn't even thinking about a no-hitter when he got the ball to start the sixth.
"The pressure was more to win the game. It was 1-0,"Steve said. "... The adrenaline was just pumping. ... Ijust went with he fastball.This early in the year it's hard to locate the offspeed stuff."
Pitchers dominated the second game, as well. St. Mary's scored three unearned runs on two hits. Dickinson managed just three hits.
Dickinson coach Pete Dobitz said he wasn't terribly concerned about his team's lack of offensive production. "When it warms up and we get more at-bats we'll be all right," he said.
Schafer, meanwhile, doffed his hat to his pitchers. "I'm happy with where our pitchers are right now,"he said. "I'm really happy with where the whole staff is right now. ...Chuppe did a nice job. Walks and errors kill you and we had one of each in that first inning."
Dickinson 1, St. Mary's 0
Dickinson 100 000 0 - 1 3 1
St. Mary's 000 000 0 - 0 0 1
Stephen Laylock, MichaelSteve (6) and Daniel Berg; Matt Chuppe, James Carroll (7)and Drew Eichele. W - Laylock, 1-0. L- Chuppe, 0-1. Save - Steve. HR- None.
Highlights:D- Ben Herauf, 1-for-3, double;Tyler Steffan 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 SB, 1 R; Laylock 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9SO; Steve 2 IP, 0 H, 0R, 0 BB, 4 SO. SM- Chuppe 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0ER, 1 BB, 5 SO; Carroll 1 IP, 0 H, 0R, 0BB, 0 SO.
St. Mary's 3, Dickinson 2
Dickinson 110 00 - 2 3 3
St. Mary's 021 0x - 3 2 3
Jeff Kaiser and Connor McNeilly; D.J.Schmitz, James Carroll (2) and Nick Jangula.W - Carroll, 1-0. L- Kaiser, 0-1. HR-None.
Highlights:D-McNeilly 1-for-1, double; Eric Seller 1-for-2, 1 RBI; Kaiser 4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO. SM-NickBury 2-for-2, double, 1 R, 1 RBI; Carroll 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0R, 1 BB, 1 SO. Records:D 2-0 West Region, 3-1 overall; St. Mary's 1-1, 2-1-1.
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