Pitch count rule changes team’s strategy
Saratoga Catholic uses full roster of relievers in win over Mechanicville
MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. » Saratoga Catholic was dominant in all aspects of the game in a 16-2 win over Mechanicville Wednesday.
Mechanicville got two runs in the bottom of the second as Bob Lemrow and Matt Wertman picked up RBIs. Nick Winslow came into the third tying the game at two with an RBI single to keep it close early.
The Saints broke open the game in the fourth after entering the inning tied 2-2.
Saratoga Catholic’s Connor Farrington, Terel Tillman, Nick Winslow and Dante Marin had RBIs in the inning. The Saints only widened the margin from there.
Managing the pitching for those type of league wins has taken more strategy and planning than in years past.
This season, a new rule was put into effect that limits the number of pitches that can be thrown by a pitcher and marked off how many days rest the
pitcher must have between starts. As a result, players who wouldn’t usually get a chance to pitch at the varsity level are seeing time on the mound.
Saratoga Catholic coach Phonsey Lambert said the new rule changes the way he plans out his games.
“You are conscious of it,” Lambert said. “You got to start looking ahead and planning out your week. The biggest thing to figure out is who the middle relief guys are going to be for your game and being able to come back and not throw too many pitches. This gives the option for them to come back and throw in relief maybe the next day or the day after. So far, it has worked for us. We have spent a lot of time trying to develope different kids and we have thrown nine or 10 different pitchers this year, so it is to the team’s advantage, the new pitch count rule.”
Lambert said the rule gets more players into the game, players like Marin, who started in center, then went one inning in relief. He allowed one hit.
Marin started the year with the junior varsity team, but caught Lambert’s eye with a strong showing when the team traveled to Florida in preseason. The game against Mechanicville marked Marin’s first taste of varsity action.
“It felt good to move up to varsity,” Marin said. “At first, I was a little nervous to move up and then when I got that first hit I knew I belonged here. Coach told me to get on the mound and I just got up there and just pretended that I was just throwing to the catcher.”
In the second inning, Marin singled in his first at bat on varsity and went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and one run scored.
The starter for the game, Connor Farrington, went five strong. He allowed two runs with eight strike outs and three walks. Farrington said the new rules makes pitchers have to throw strikes.
“With the pitch limits, pitchers have to throw a lot more strikes,” Farrington said. “If someone is up at the 110 or 120 pitch count then they are going to have to rest for more than four or days, so we have our pitchers that can go through and throw 100 pitches and then after four or five days we are able to cycle through our pitchers and bring that guy back in.”
Mechanicville coach Bryan Mclellan said the new rule has its advantages and disadvantages.
“Some benefits to us having the pitch count is that it allows us to get more people into our pitching rotation, which was evident today,” McLellan said. “We were able to get a couple extra pitchers out there tonight, which was nice. Some negatives to it is that it does limit how many people you can have. You have to switch up your roster and have all the available positions covered, so you got a little bit of both with it.”
Mechanicville struggled on the pitching side as starter Jacob Lafountain walked seven batters, and gave up five hits and seven runs in 3.1 innings. Late in the game, Mecnaicville put in pitchers who usually don’t get a chance to see the mound.
McLellan said that the new rule is a tricky thing to work with.
“Overall, I think it has given us a little more of an opportunity, but at the same time it has that effect where it could take away certain opportunities,” McLellan said. “It goes back to it having some advantages and disadvantages to it, but it is all about trying something new and where it will take us in the future.”