Dock guts out a win in season opener
Pioneers overcome injury against Holy Ghost Prep
The season wasn’t even four innings old and Dock Mennonite was already in a bind.
Ace pitcher Danny Sabath had jammed the thumb on his right hand trying to bunt in the bottom half of the third inning and had to come out. It looked like the door had just opened for Holy Ghost Prep’s potent offense to erase the Pioneers’ lead.
But Dock has a couple things in its favor this season. First, its tough and second, its deep in pitching.
Connor Schnable and Nolan Bolton didn’t miss a beat, each throwing two innings of relief as the Pioneers picked up a 3-1 win over the Firebirds on Wednesday.
“It was a little dramatic but we’re playing good ball,” Dock coach Ed Melendez said. “What can I say? I was our first chance in the field. We barely had a chance to get out, we had all the practice indoors, and batting practice indoors, it’s not the same to see a live pitch.”
HGP threw its ace in senior Peyton Birch and he was terrific in his five innings of work. Dock did score three off of him, but a costly third-inning throwing error was the main culprit behind the first two runs.
Sabath wasn’t at his sharpest even before hurting his hand, but the senior pitched out of jams in the second and third innings and stranded four runners in his three shutout frames. He struck out two against three walks but made the pitches he needed to when it mattered.
Thanks to sophomore Nolan Bolton, it was all good.
“It was good, we were in the gym all winter and had bullpen in there, so we were throwing every day,” Bolton said. “We got our command and threw the right pitches at the right times.”
Right fielder Harrison Moyer was a sparkplug for Dock, going 2-for-2 with a double and walking to reach base in all three of his appearances. Bolton played producer with a pair of RBI singles on top of his two innings in relief.
Moyer drew a one-out walk in the third and a throwing error off Brian Miller’s hard glancer into the dirt put men at third and second for Bolton. The starting third baseman, who struck out swinging at a Birch offering in the first inning, dropped in a blooper to play Moyer.
“The second at-bat, I was trying to get there early and see if I could get a fastball,” Bolton said. “Fair enough, he threw me a couple fastballs, I attacked and hit them the other way.”
The second run came in when first baseman Justin Burkholder hit one sharply down the third base line and deflected off the bag. Bolton, who had moved up to second, was able to beat Ghost third baseman Will Binder to the base, allowing Miller to get home safely.
Bolton singled home Moyer again in the fifth after the outfielder led off with a double and moved to third on a Miller bunt. Dock only had five hits as a team, but the Pioneers expect to have a deep and balanced lineup this season.
“Today showed that we can do little things, like get bunts over and get hits in key at-bats,” Bolton said. “Last year, everyone was well-rounded and this year, we’ll see what we can do. We have eight seniors, we all like each other and get along really well.”
With Sabath sidelined early, Schnable stepped in and continued to keep the Firebirds in check. Binder, an impressive freshman, welcomed Schnable with a leadoff double in the fourth, but the senior stranded Binder and a second runner, continuing a trend.
The Pioneers left nine Firebirds runners on base
Wednesday, none bigger than the three Bolton left on in the top of the seventh to pick up the win.
“We wanted to see the guys throw and in what ways they can help us,” Melendez said. “I believe we are fully loaded with a pitching staff. I used three guys and have four more that didn’t throw yet. We’re really in good position right now and it’s good to have that.”
That’s an extra-big asset with the new pitch count rules adopted by the PIAA this season. The more arms a team has, the better equipped it is to deal with busy weeks, or scenarios like Dock ran into on Wednesday.
Bolton took over in the sixth and stranded two men on base with a pair of strikeouts. He got into quick trouble in the seventh, walking John McNamee to open the frame, then gave up a single and another walk to load the bags with nobody out.
An error on a sharply hit ball by Binder allowed a run to score, but Bolton geared down and got a strikeout of DH Mark Seibert.
“My curveball was working pretty well at the end and I knew the 3-4-5
guys were coming up, so I wanted throw curveballs and try to get them off balance then throw fastballs for strikes,” Bolton said. “Bases loaded, no out, I wanted to get a strikeout or something to get our confidence back up. The strikeout really got me going.”
Bolton followed with a strikeout of Greg Sylvester for the second out, then got Sean Kerrigan to pop up in the infield to end the game.
“Nolan’s a sophomore and this is a kid everyone is going to have to be watching,” Melendez said. “There’s a good baseball player inside of that kid. He’s got a lot of potential.”
Dock is right back at it tomorrow with another BAL rival at Jenkintown, and has three games next week. The Pioneers are hoping to hit the ground rolling and Wednesday was a good start.
“We just want the guys to find their roles and know them throughout the season,” Melendez said. “We try to play the guys in a position they feel comfortable.”