Daniel Boone blanks Gov. Mifflin
Daniel Boone uses style, substance in blanking of Gov. Mifflin
Carson Zuber’s got all the style points covered.
He rocks the smeared eyeblack, a navy compression sleeve on his throwing arm and sunglasses resting upside-down on his hat brim.
And as for his game on the diamond?
Well, that’s pretty sharp as well.
The junior third baseman delivered Daniel Boone’s first two RBIs during Wednesday afternoon’s 4-0 win over visiting Governor Mifflin at Optimistic Field.
“I like to play it like that,” said Zuber with a laugh when asked about his style. “I tried to bring a calm approach at the plate — treated it both times like a 0-0 game. Just gotta get ahead.”
Zuber delivered a pair of twoout RBI singles — a liner into left field in the bottom of the first inning and a chopper up the middle in the third — to stake plenty of room for Boone starting pitcher Matt Henderson.
With the win, the Blazers improve to 3-1 in Berks Conference I play and 8-1 overall to move into first place in the division. Twotime defending Berks champion Gov. Mifflin, winners of three straight games prior to Wednesday, drops to 2-2 and 8-4.
Boone racked up eight hits off Mifflin starter Joe Adametz. Shortstop Joey Moyer finished 2-for-3 with a run scored while leadoff center fielder Matt Stevens had an RBI double and a run scored.
“That game could have swung either way,” said Daniel Boone head coach Jason McCord. “A big hit here, a big hit there — that was kind of the difference for us. Especially with Carson stepping up twice with two outs and driving in runs. He came up huge for us to get off the deck right away.”
The right-handed Henderson was ‘effectively wild,’ as deemed by Mifflin head coach Chris Hole.
The sophomore held the Mustangs to just one hit across the first five innings to go along with five walks and a strikeout.
“Their pitchers did a nice job,” said Hole. “He (Henderson) never let us get too comfortable in the box and he battled through some tough situations.”
On a day where he struggled to locate his offspeed pitches, Henderson lived down in the zone and limited the damage throughout. He stranded nine runners on base — including a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth inning before handing it over to side-winder Zach Brightbill for the final two frames.
Mifflin designated hitter Isaac Ruoss ripped a double to left-center in the top of the fourth inning while right fielder Corbin Dunnuck accounted for the Mustangs’ only other hit.
Despite his team being held to only two hits, Hole had plenty of positives.
“It comes down to getting timely hits. They (Daniel Boone) got them and we didn’t,” he said. “Our division is so tough. All these games, we’re gonna beat each other up a little bit.
“The bottom line is how much will you improve from now until the middle of next month? That’s the biggest thing. The growth that will get these boys to hopefully be where we need to be.”
The lefty Adametz was effective for Mifflin on the mound. He pitched all six innings where he scattered four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk to go along with five strikeouts.
Fresh Slate
Daniel Boone beat Mifflin twice during the regular season before the Mustangs downed the Blazers in the opening round of the Berks Conference playoffs on their way to the 2016 league crown. The year prior, Mifflin beat Boone 3-1 in the championship game.
“It’s a team that we know we’ve got to go through,” said McCord. “We can’t sleep. We’ve just got to keep getting better every day. Our goal is always to be 1-0.”