Royal Oak Baseball Wins Pitchers' Duel Over Troy 2-0

TROY – A little bit of rain wasn’t going to slow down Royal Oak starting pitcher Dominic Valente.

Valente went the distance in a 2-0 win over the Troy High School varsity baseball team on Friday in an Oakland Activities Association Blue division game. The senior only allowed three hits over seven shut-out innings and finished the game with 10 strikeouts.

Rain started coming down in the fifth inning, but the inclement weather didn’t spoil what was a terrific pitchers’ duel between Valente and Colts starter Michael Thomas.

“The last two innings were difficult,” Valente said of the conditions. “I couldn’t land at all and it was tough to throw strikes with my curve ball.”

Valente walked Matt Oppenlander to start the bottom of the seventh inning and then hit John Wassel with a pitch. With no outs and two runners on, Valente dialed up some added heat on his fastball to get out of trouble.

“I just had to rear back and give it a little extra,” Valente said. “I have to save it for times like that.”

Pinch hitter Kevin Simono struck out looking for the first out. Oppenlander was forced out at third on Luke McColskey’s grounder. Troy’s lead-off hitter Derek Verbruggen watched a third strike go by him to end the game.

It was the fourth time the Colts (6-4; 2-2 OAA Blue) left runners stranded in scoring position. Troy had runners on first and second with one out in the fourth inning, but didn't advance the runners.

“All day we had runners in scoring position and we couldn’t string a hit or two together to make a difference in the game,” Troy coach Jim Ellis said. “Couldn’t move runners over when we needed to do, couldn’t do the little things. Wasted a pretty good pitching performance by out pitcher today.”

Thomas only allowed five base runners the entire game, and both of Royal Oak’s runs were unearned.

The Ravens (5-7; 2-2 OAA Blue) scored in the fourth inning when Erich Grohs hit a grounder that was misplayed by third baseman Tyler Horne. Valente scored from third on the play.

Valente scored again in the sixth inning on an attempted pickoff play. Thomas saw Valente getting a big lead off the bag and he went to second base. Valente ran for third and Horne couldn’t field a low throw by the second baseman.

The ball rolled out of play, allowing Valente to take an extra base to give Royal Oak the 2-0 lead.

“We have a guy picked off and end up giving up a run, that’s not a recipe for success," Ellis said.

Royal Oak didn’t have any problems in the field. The Ravens made a couple of nice defensive plays to back up Valente’s strong performance on the mound.

“It was levels and levels above what it has been in the past,” Valente said. “We’ve had lot of sketchy defense for the beginning of the season, this is definitely the best defense we’ve played all season. Makes you feel real confident on the mound.”

Troy plays at home again on Saturday, hosting Waterford Kettering for a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. Royal Oak visits Groves for a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon.