BEHIND THE PLATE Scrappers' Wallace leads way

The catcher handles the pitchers well and is swinging a hot bat.
By BILL SULLIVAN
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- Baseball catchers are a different breed of athlete -- the only ballplayer on the diamond who is capable of looking at all the rest of his teammates in the eyes.
Due to his peculiar defensive location, he has nowhere to hide from the gaze of his team; he's an opera conductor in spiked shoes, a magician in a chest protector.
Scrappers' catcher David Wallace put on a deft display behind the plate in Tuesday's 7-2 win over the Auburn Doubledays, leading his team with his bat, his arm and his voice.
After singling and scoring the Scrappers' fifth run in the first inning, Wallace was hit by a pitch to lead off the third.
Another bruise in the legacy of catchers, like a black-and-blue membership card to their private club.
It's the position where a dirty uniform is a badge of honor, a twisted finger is a way of life.
Homers in fifth
His 370-foot homer over the wall in left with a teammate on board in the fifth gave the team a 7-2 lead.
By then Wallace was giving defensive orders to his team, like in the second inning when he commanded winning-pitcher Blake Allen (1-1) to go to first with a ground ball and forget the two Auburn baserunners.
"We had good communication out there," Scrappers manager Chris Bando said.
Wallace seemed to enjoy his role as watchdog to a bunch of young Scrappers.
"That's the catcher's job out there on the field," Wallace said. "He's the one guy that everyone is looking in at. If he's sluggish behind there, then there's going to be the tendency for everybody else to be sluggish."
Keeps pitchers on toes
In the ninth inning when the game was already secured, he used a loud, distinctive voice to remind pitcher Simon Young to cover first base on a ball hit to that bag.
"My job is to handle the pitchers," Wallace said. "You got to watch those pitchers, every once in a while they'll forget. Their job is to go over and cover first base."
Allen and Young combined on a five-hitter with seven strikeouts, no earned runs and no walks.
Wallace deserves some of the credit for keeping them focused.
"He's a quality catcher," Bando said. "He's going to be one of the top players in this league.
"He definitely is a key to our offense and a key to our pitching."