Sports
Strongsville Starts New Season, Rolls over Berea in 1st Division Playoff Game
Mustangs blank Braves 10-0 in 6 innings
The Strongsville baseball team took their 13-1 regular season record into state tournament play on Wednesday.
"You can throw the records out the window, it starts all over right now," was how Coach Josh Sorge viewed the upcoming game against the 8-9 Berea Braves (who earned the right to take on the Mustangs by beating North Ridgeville 9-4 on Tuesday).
The Braves led off the game with two singles, but that was all Mustang starter Austin Pritchard needed to remove the early game jitters. Pritchard then not only shut down the Braves in the first with a line out and two ground outs, but scattered Berea's remaining three hits over the next five innings.
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Other than the first two singles, no Brave was able to reach second base. With the help of outstanding defense, Pritchard, now 4-0 on the season, ended his complete game with no runs on five hits, two walks, four strikeouts and six left on base.
As for the offense, it was hitting on all cylinders. The boys put up 2 runs in the first; 3 in the second; 2 more in both the fourth and fifth; and tallied one more in the sixth inning before the "mercy rule" stopped their carousel.
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They had at least two base runners in every inning, and scored in all innings but the third. Their display of speed and power smashed out six doubles and a total of 13 hits. Combine that with five walks and a pair of stolen bases and it's plain to see why they are expected to compete for the state title this year.
From the plate for the 'Stangs, junior Forrest Perron went three for four with 2doubles, 2 RBI, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored; senior Anthony Maurer went one for two with an RBI and 2 runs scored; senior Colin Houdek was three for four with a double, 4 RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored; senior catcher Austin Legate went two for two with a double and a run scored; and senior Justin Jakubik went two for four with a double and a run scored.
With the final score 10-0, the Mustangs improve their record to 14-1. They will now complete the handful of scheduled regular season games and also look ahead to next week when they continue state divisional play.