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Harris, veteran Indians shut out Golden Flashes
Harris, veteran Indians shut out Golden Flashes
By Ryan Buck
CHAMPION
Girard junior baseball player Kyle Harris carries two nicknames.
Coach Aaron Alejars playfully refers to his number one pitcher as “Chad,” and for unknown reasons.
The second, filled with even more randomness, is “Bubbles.”
Perhaps “Goose Egg” would suffice?
After another dominant outing on the mound for the Indians (15-1), Harris improved his season record to 6-0 as he shut out conference foe Champion, 8-0, Wednesday at the Champion Athletic Club complex.
Harris went six strong innings, scattering three hits, striking out four and walking one, keeping his team undefeated (9-0) in All-American Conference Blue Division play.
“The fastball was working,” said Harris, whose accuracy and situational awareness on the mound make up for lack of power. “I kept them off-balance with the change-up and the curveball. I just try to throw it over the plate and make them hit it.”
Harris helped his own cause in the first inning. After Jordan Graziano singled to lead off the game, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error, Harris drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center.
In the third, the Indians broke the game open.
Joe Colapietro, Graziano and Zane Chase all reached base with no outs. Jimmy Standohar slipped a single to left just past the diving shortstop Michael Turner to score two runs. Another Harris sacrifice fly scored Chase and Standohar came around to score on a Dylan White fly-out.
There was little Alejars, whose team comprised entirely of juniors and seniors exudes an attitude dripping with confidence and relaxation, had to complain about.
Especially Harris and a defense that did not commit an error until the game was far out of reach.
“They put the bat on the ball with him,” Alejars said, “but we preach pounding the strike zone. Make them hit and they hit the ball a couple time right on the screws, but our guys were there to make plays.”
In the fourth, Joe Batcho’s drive to center looked destined for trouble until Graziano’s diving over-the-shoulder grab prevented any Champion momentum.
The Indians added three more runs by Austin DeGregory, Colapietro and Graziano in the sixth as Harris kept cruising. No Flashes batter advanced past second base.
“It’s always a help when you have a good lead,” Harris said. “You can go out there without any nerves. You can have fun and throw strikes and let them hit it.”
Champion coach Jeff Thompson predicted that his team (10-5, 6-3) would have its hands full even before the game started. A quick glance at the opposing bullpen proved as much.
“He’s arguably the best pitcher in our conference, in our tier,” said Thompson. “We knew when we saw that he was pitching, we were going to have trouble scoring runs. We had guys on base, but we couldn’t move them. We had runners in scoring position, but couldn’t get them home early on.”
Not surprisingly, the Indians feel the exact opposite when they know their ace takes the mound.
“He’s our top guy,” Alejars said. “Obviously we feel a little extra confident when (Kyle’s) out there.”