O’Boyle hurls Hamilton Post 31 past Allentown
HAMILTON » It was a tale of two southpaws Saturday at Steinert High’s Rich Giallella Field.
And yes, it was the best of times and the worst of times for these two pitchers.
Beyond that, the similarities with Charles Dickens’ novel were few and far between much like the number of hits (two) that Hamilton Post 31 pitcher Sean O’Boyle allowed.
Allentown starting pitcher Colton Johnson was not as fortunate as his team fell to Post 31 for the second time in the 2017 Mercer County American Legion League season without having scored a run in either game. This time, Hamilton defeated A’town, 9-0.
O’Boyle, who was a relief pitcher with Mercer County Community College’s World Series team in the spring before returning to a predominantly starting role with Post 31, gave up a single to Guiseppe Arcuri in the second inning, walked Matt Coiante in the fourth, retired nine in a row, then saw Gino Tortoriello reach on a bloop single to open the seventh. He struck out nine along the way and did it all in 74 pitches (just over 10 pitches an inning).
“I feel like I’m getting stronger. It was hard to develop all of my pitches when I was pitching in relief,” said O’Boyle, who now masters four pitches (fastball, curve ball, slider, changeup) in his repertoire. “Some of it has to do with experience. I threw like (Johnson) early in my career at Steinert. I thought he threw well. Holding us to six runs when we’re hot is not an easy thing to do.”
While O’Boyle seemed to have more powerful pitches, Johnson used a more crafty approach. The younger left-hander, who was 4-0 for Allentown High’s Group III state championship team in the spring, was not as sharp as he would have liked in surrendering eight hits, walking six and throwing 94 pitches in 3 2/3 innings of work. He struck out two, but was lifted from the game before the end of the fourth inning as Hamilton batted around in the third and fourth.
“I had to focus more and throw cold water on my head between innings. I need to work more on my mechanics,” said Johnson, who is headed to Ursinus College in the fall. “(O’Boyle) had a very good tempo. Once he got in his rhythm, it was hard to break.”
After O’Boyle retired the visitors in order in the top of the first with the help of a diving stop and flip to the pitcher by first baseman Matt Ricci,
Post 31 got on the board against Johnson when Jake Beyer singled in C.J. Pittaro (single, stolen base) with two outs in the bottom of the frame.
Johnson got out of a jam in the second inning, but was not as lucky in the third when Kenny Zahn came up with a two-out hit with the bases loaded. Another RBI single by Chris Cote and a two-run infield hit by Brady Plunkett increased the home team’s lead to 5-0.
“He caught us off balance a little,” Plunkett said of Johnson. “The difference today was we stayed patient. I know I tried to wait back and keep grinding the ball as the game went on.”