Dellacona Fires Gem in Barnstable Win Over Whalers

If Barnstable High School has nothing else this season, it has pitching.

Loads of it.

Case and point: one Keegan Dellacona, a 6'4" senior righty who yesterday spun an 8-0 masterful web over the host New Bedford Whalers with a complete-game, one-hitter. He struck out nine batters, walked one and the sole basehit he allowed was a slow-rolling dribbler to third in the bottom of the first inning.

When the dust finally settled, Dellacona had thrown 95 pitches in seven innings of work, 66 of those pitches were strikes. His best innings, arguably, were the bottom halves of the fourth and fifth innings as he struck out four, got one batter to ground out and another to foul out. In those two frames, he threw 22 pitches, 19 of which were strikes.

"I'm feeling pretty good about the game," Dellacona said afterwards. "I'm pumped... I was pumped with the fielding and run support."

The only two Whalers to reach base were in the first inning on the aforementioned single and a borderline free pass in the second inning.

Keeping the usually potent New Bedford bats off-balance throughout this affair, Dellacona and his battery-mate Denny Beynor complimented each other perfectly with a bedazzling array of dancing offspeed stuff -- with remarkable control -- versus blazing fastballs in the high 80s.

Barnstable had staked Dellacona with just a one-run lead in the early going, as shortstop Ty Adams (4-4, RBI) hammered an opposite-field triple with one out in the first, then came home on a Dan Walsh (2-4, RBI) rip single. The score was 1-0 through three complete innings.

That score would change quickly and drastically in the top of the fourth as Everett Walsh (2-4, two runs) opened up a confidence-building rally with a one-out single, followed by a perfectly executed hit-and-run on a 1-2 count by D.J. Crook (2-4, RBI) who took the pitch the other way to put Walsh on third. Crook then stole second and Walsh came scampering home on a vicious Sam Holway (1-3, RBI) baseknock to make it 2-0. Crook and Holway both advanced on a wild pitch, with Crook scoring to make it 3-0. Beynor walked and then Luke Besse (2-3, 2 RBI) made it 4-0 on a basehit that drove in Holway and Adams made it 5-0 with an RBI-basehit of his own.

Holway led off the top of the sixth inning with a hit-by-pitch freebie, stole second, then advanced to third when the New Bedford catcher attempted to catch Beynor off guard at first (walk). Besse picked up his second hit and RBI of the game to bring home Holway and make it 6-0. Beynor scored on yet another Adams' basehit to make it 7-0, in one of the senior captain's best hitting performances of his high school career.

Everett Walsh scored the final Barnstable run in the top of the seventh inning when he went the other way deep in the hole and beat out the throw to first, and advanced to second when the Whaler throw went sailing by and scored on a Crook basehit to make it 8-0.

Dellacona is now 1-0 on the season with a 0.00 earned run average.

Barnstable faces Sandwich High School tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. with senior righty Pete Liimatainen the likely starter on the hill.