The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Keystone blanks Firelands
Keystone defeated Firelands, 4-0, on April 3 — a game in which both starting pitchers carried their teams.
Early in the game, Firelands senior left-hander Trevor Damron was untouchable, as he struck out eight of the first nine batters he faced. The Coastal Carolina commit had everything working for him, mixing in an upper-80’s fastball with a lethal slider and beautiful curveball.
Keystone senior right-hander Drew Compton didn’t start the day quite as strong, but certainly finished on top, tossing a completegame shutout with 12 strikeouts.
The Wildcats entered the top of the seventh with a one-run lead, still hitless, but the offense started to come to life in the last inning. After a leadoff walk and a stolen base, Michael Mileski broke up a no-hitter with an RBI single, scoring Cameron Emerick from third to make it a 2-0 game.
“I was so happy when he got that hit,” Compton said. “I was just hoping going into the seventh inning that we’d have more than a
one-run lead, and we end up getting three.”
Mileski advanced to third on a throwing error and Compton came to the plate with a chance to help his own cause. The righthanded senior smoked an RBI double into left field, making it a three-run game. He came around to score later in the inning, as Firelands committed its third error of the game.
“We just have to get our feet wet a little more,” Firelands coach Dan Ransom said of the defensive miscues. “We have to play a little more solid, a little smarter and tighten up on defense.”
Compton stayed on the mound to start the bottom of the seventh and sealed the deal with a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two.
There wasn’t much of a question in Keystone coach Bert Fitzgerald’s mind as to whether or not to let Compton finish off the complete game shutout.
“He was fantastic allaround. He’s one of our many seniors, but between him and just a couple other guys, we expect a lot out of him and he brought it today,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a sure thing.”
Compton’s command was a key to the victory, as he issued
two walks on the day, surrendering three hits, and the starting pitcher was pleased with his team’s play in the field.
“I just found the strike zone and just got used to pitching out there,” he said. “I was just throwing strikes and letting the defense make plays behind me. They did a good job.”
Firelands had an opportunity in the bottom of the first, as sophomore Alex Brill led off the inning with a single and stole second. However, the opportunity went by the wayside as Keystone catcher Clay Todd retired him on an attempt
to steal third, a play which turned out to be costly.
“We were a little more aggressive on the bases than I’d like to see early that first inning,” Ransom said. “We had a guy on second with no outs, and it was just a case of a little inexperience and trying to do too much.”
The Falcons never threatened more than that first inning opportunity the rest of the game, as both starting pitchers held the opposing offenses in check.
Damron struggled to find the strike zone after setting down eight of nine batters to start the game, and the fourth inning was
his lone hiccup of the day as he walked three batters in the inning and misplayed a comebacker to the mound, resulting in Keystone’s first run of the game.
He bounced back in the fifth, setting the side down in order to finish the day with 12 strikeouts, six walks, one earned run and no hits allowed.
“(Damron) did what he did,” Ransom said of his ace. “He does what he does all the time. We just have to come around and get some better support for him. That’s the second time that he’s come out for us and we haven’t given him run support.”