Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Futrell stellar for American Heritage
WELLINGTON — When American Heritage had to miss more than two weeks of games due to the coronavirus, it threw off star pitcher Devin Futrell’s groove. So when he got back on the mound for the first time since March 10, he needed to get back into the swing of things.
“I was just trying to get back into rhythm,” Futrell said. “Those two weeks really messed me up, so I just had to get back into rhythm and show what I’ve got.”
Futrell excelled, pitching four innings and giving up only one run as American Heritage beat Wellington 6-5 in Wellington on Wednesday.
“With us missing so many days, we’re playing three games backto-back-to-back, we don’t have the pitchers built up yet,” American Heritage coach Bruce Aven said. “With 17 days of us not being out there, we’ve got to come back after 13 or 14 days of COVID, so we’re just getting the guys to 40 pitches, 50 pitches.”
Futrell’s lone blemish in the game was a home run he surrendered to Wellington’s Jackson Hugus in the second inning. Otherwise, he was hard to touch. He gave up only one hit and struck out nine batters while walking one batter and hitting another.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Aven said. “I think he went out there, he commanded his pitches, the second time around, he started throwing his off-speed. I think he kept them off balance.”
The Patriots did damage early on offense. They scored three first-inning runs: one on a double by Mateo Serna, one on a basesloaded walk to Andrew Ortiz and another on a wild pitch. They added two more runs in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to Spencer Butt and a single by Ortiz, and Serna drove in another run with a single in the sixth.
Despite the downtime, Heritage showed patience at the plate. Eddie Novoa walked in all four of his plate appearances, and the Patriots walked a total of eight times in the game (and reached base via hit by pitch an additional three times).
“We were looking in the zone tonight,” Aven said. “And we just weren’t up there just hacking and swinging. When you look in the zone, you tend not to chase pitches out of the zone.”
The Wolverines stayed in the game, though. They scored in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a walk, a wild pitch and two errors. In the sixth, Zach Hessler singled to center and reached third on a two-base error by center fielder Nico Herraro. Luis Gomez drove Hessler in with a single to get Wellington within three runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, mistakes nearly cost Heritage the game. Wellington’s Gavin Bogdanchik doubled to start the inning and reached third on a wild pitch. Griffin Hugus walked and tried to steal the second.
The throw to second sailed into the outfield, allowing Bogdanchik to score. Hugus ran for third base, and the throw there was wild, as well.
Hugus sprinted home, getting Wellington within one.
Butt, who moved from shortstop to the mound to close out the game, ended the Wolverines’ comeback attempt with a strikeout.
“It was a good high-school game,” Aven said. “And I say highschool game because both teams made mistakes that changed the outcome of the game.”