Rutmayer Hurls One-Hitter to Lead Cranford Past Roselle

Add another name to the long list of pitchers who have helped the Cranford varsity baseball team to a 7-1 start.

Sophomore Kurt Rutmayer not only took the stage, but took on the starring role, striking out the first nine batters he faced in the Cougars' impressive 10-0 victory. Rutmayer gave up just one hit and struck out 11 in four innings of work. This was just his second varsity start and it was one he'll always remember.

"I just go up there and throw strikes, like Mac tells me," said Rutmayer. "I get the sign from Linger or Walano and just throw the ball. I feel like almost everything I throw is right where I want it to be. Just throw to the glove, get in a groove and it goes perfect."

"Kurt really threw the ball well," said head coach Dennis McCaffery. "When you strike out the first nine batters, that sets the tone. The kids hit the ball hard today, and we were able to find some holes and fortunately we were able to win the game."

"It was a good performance today," said senior Nick Cook. "Kurt did a great job getting people out, and offensively we did a good job. "

The Cougars broke the game open with a nine-run fourth inning, keyed by a Nick Cook RBI double. Senior Nick Pace added an RBI on a  pair of hits and stole two bases, junior Eric Walano slammed a two-run triple in the victory as well.

"I was glad I got a good pitch to hit," said Cook. "I havn't been doing that well lately, and that was a good pick-me-up. We're doing well. This game was a good confidence builder. We needed a good win to get us into the weekend. We have two tough teams coming up."

"We had a better offensive approach today and better offensive results," said McCaffery. "We were able to get some key hits. We hit the ball hard, one through nine. It worked out well."

As for Rutmayer, he's soaking in all the knowledge he can after being called up from the junior varsity team earlier in the season.

"It's great, because I know the coaches really care about it," Rutmayer said. "They're here to help us out and to win, to get a championship. I hope there are many wins in the future and I can keep this going for the team."

Rutmayer, who throws primarily a fastball, curveball and occasional changeup, says he is a little surprised at his early success thus far.

"Yeah, I was very surprised, because I started this year off on junior varsity and all of a sudden, they called me up and the next day I was pitching against Hudson Catholic. I'm glad to be on this pitching rotation. It's a great team and it's a great feeling."

Cranford, ranked No. 2 in Union County, has a big weekend on the horizon, with games against Wayne Hills and Jackson. McCaffery knows they are both dangerous teams.

"We know it's going to be two very difficult games," McCaffery said. "We saw Wayne Hills play Don Bosco and we saw them play Paramus, and those are two very good teams. We're going to have our hands full. And Jackson is a team that 10-runned us last year, who plays in a very difficult conference. We'll have our hands full there as well."

"We're 7-1. Hopefully the wins just keep coming," said Rutmayer. "We've been hitting the ball, pitching real well, fielding real well, it's all coming together. Hopefully we can take it to the top."