It wasn’t the prettiest one-hitter pitched by the Centralia Tigers at Ed Wheeler Field Thursday, but they’ll take the win.
With North Mason holding a 1-0 lead through 6 1/2 innings, the Tigers were desperate for a bail out against their 3A opponent.
They couldn’t buy any clutch hitting at that point; they stranded 11 batters before the final at-bat, and were being offensively carried by reserve second baseman Jacob Payne — a sophomore, batting ninth — as last year’s All-League first-teamer, leadoff hitter Dominick Courcy, was sidelined for unspecified reasons.
“I thought it was a good challenge, but I was nervous,” Centralia pitcher and cleanup hitter Zack Baldwin said.
A challenge it was. And those nerves — apparently they went away, as the boys from the Hub City were finally able to take advantage of an at-bat when it counted the most, winning 2-1 courtesy of back to back hits by Andrew Pullin and Baldwin to start the inning, followed by a well-executed bunt by Cristian Cabrera, and a hard-hit ball from Tyler Shumate that got past the Bulldogs’ shortstop for the win.
“You’re always happy with a win,” Tiger coach Jon Rooklidge said. “Obviously, we hit the ball hard at times tonight, and hit it hard throughout the lineup, but we didn’t do it in groups.”
Even Shumate, himself, was a little bit surprised after getting a base on balls, a strikeout, and a single, beforehand.
“I finally saw the ball and hit it good this time,” he said.
But pitching was what stood out most in the win. The Bulldogs’ lone run came after one of two base on balls doled out and the Tigers — with one out, and runners on first and third — fell for the old delayed-double-steal-on-pitch bit to allow the run.
Baldwin went three innings and accumulated four strikeouts, before Shumate stepped in to face just seven batters in two innings. Pullin finished out the final two by immediately surrendering a double before fanning five of the next six batters.
“I like the fact that we pitched very effectively,” Rooklidge said. “All three pitchers pitched well, we played great defense — and that makes your pitching.”
All three of the aforementioned pitchers helped their own cause, pumping out half of the team’s hits. Baldwin went 2 for 3, Pullin had a double and scored the game-tying run, and Shumate had a single and the walk-off base on error.
Centralia (2-0) hosts Aberdeen Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., and at least one Tiger’s hungry for the matchup.
“We’re looking to get revenge from last year,” said Baldwin, whose team went on a 9-0 spree in EvCo play last season, before falling in a 5-4, nine-inning heartbreaker with the Bobcats.
