Fishman Fans 13, Two-Hits Taunton

Behind senior captain Jake Fishman’s 13-strikeout, two-hit, shutout masterpiece, the Sharon High baseball team downed Taunton, 6-0, on Thursday.

“Just an absolutely great game all-around,” said Head Coach Joel Peckham. “Jake Fishman was just unbelievable. He could’ve easily had a no hitter. He had 13 K’s, and that’s big. He controlled the game for us.”

Fishman said, “The key to my performance was definitely keeping hitters off-balance. I mixed up my pitches very well today, so they really had no idea what was coming. Having three pitches to go to is very helpful when they’re all working.”

Dating back to last season, when Fishman shut out Wellesley in the playoffs, and including his blanking of Seekonk in an eight-strikeout performance to open the 2013 season on Saturday, the Eagle southpaw has not allowed a run in his last 21+ innings.

“He just had so much command of all of his pitches – his fastball, his curveball, his changeup. He threw every pitch and he threw them for strikes. The umpire – who was the former coach at Harvard – said, ‘He’s good. I like him; he knows what he’s doing out there.’”

Thursday, Fishman allowed his first base knock in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Tigers broke up the no-hitter with a single just out of the reach of Eagle senior second baseman Eric Lesser’s full-body dive.

Fishman struck out the side in the 3^rd and 5^th innings. All of his 13 K’s came on swinging strike threes. He also picked off a Taunton runner, who had reached base on an error, in the second inning.

“He’s played baseball for so long,” Peckham added. “Now, he’s god the size and the velocity; he’s throwing the ball harder. And he has a joy about him. He’s positive, he’s happy, he likes to compete; very seldom does he get down. That’s a pleasure to coach – that kind of kid.”

Offensively, Fishman received more than his customary allotment of runs. Sharon staked their ace to a four-run cushion in the second inning and added two more in the fourth.

Third baseman Frank Sullivan started the Eagle barrage by cranking a two-run bomb to straightaway left field in the top of the second, the junior’s first career homer.

“I just saw it, hit it well,” Sullivan said. “It carried deep; it just kept going. I hadn’t realized I hit it that far. But it just kept carrying and dropped over.”

Peckham said, “Frankie’s a strong kid, and he works very hard to get stronger. He’s a tough kid. When he first hit the ball, I didn’t think it was going out. But then it got up into the air and into the jet stream, and it just kept going.”

Sullivan says that he has worked on achieving consistency with his stroke. “I just finally met it right. Coach had given me a couple of pointers with my swing, and I turned my hip and just let it go,” he said.

Fishman also aided his own cause with a 2-for-3 effort. He is now 7-of-11 (.636) on the young season. Of his squad’s performance Thursday at the bat, Fishman said, “Definitely, it’s nice to have some offensive support. I know I don’t [typically] get it, but we’re hitting very well this year.”

Another bright spot for the Eagles was the batting of sophomore left fielder Matt Shaffer. Playing in his first varsity game, Shaffer cranked two doubles, both of which sailed over Taunton outfielders’ heads.

“He’s a talented kid. He’s going to play more for us,” Peckham said. “He can run, he can catch it, and he obviously can hit it. I didn’t think he would do as well as he did today. But he showed me something – he belongs with us.”

Other Sharon players who recorded multiple hits were senior captain Brad Kaufman (2, with two steals and two runs scored) and Lesser (2). No Taunton players recorded more than one hit, but Peckam says that that the Tigers are a strong bunch.

“[Taunton is] a good team; they just beat Milford, 10-2,” Peckham said. “[Sharon’s] winning that game – and beating Franklin [on Tuesday, 8-7] - was huge, and we’re now 2-0 against the large schools. That’s good.”

Next up for Sharon (3-0, 2-0 Hockomock) next Monday is a tilt at Eagle Ballpark against King Philip.