Travis Church scores after Brayden Vargas draws bases-loaded walk for the Philadelphian Reds.
By Sean Reilly
Batters never like making an out, but Caleb Price of the Philadelphian Reds gained a pretty decent consolation prize for doing exactly that on Thursday morning at Diamond Nation.
With the game clock in its final 20 seconds, Price grounded out to shortstop to end the bottom of the sixth inning.
That out extended the contest against Rake Showcase 17U to a seventh frame, and it allowed Price – who was pitching a tremendous game – to keep throwing.
Seven pitches later, Price finished off his first full-length complete game of the summer as the Reds finished off a 6-1 victory over Rake Showcase at the 17/18U Garden State invitational in Flemington.
Caleb Price (center) allowed four hits over seven innings for the Philadelphian Reds..
Price, who was a standout on the Penn North High School team that reached the Pennsylvania 6A state final, closed with a four-hitter. He struck out nine and walked one. He threw 84 pitches, 57 of them for strikes.
“I’ve mainly been pitching five or six innings at a time,” he said. “It feels pretty good to go all seven.”
Price’s main pitch throughout the game was a slider. He was also helped by a defense which played error-free, helping him pitch to contact.
“I got my slider back in the later innings, and I was able to compete,” he said. “I can trust my outfield and infield to make plays, which lets me pitch to contact and go later into games.”
The Reds, now 1-1-1 in the tournament, took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Teddy Monahan, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, singled beyond third base with one out. He stole second and scored when Brayden Vargas singled to right field with two out.
The Reds added five more runs in the second, all with two out.
Mikey Wagner (2-for-3) led off with a single to center. Liam Clouser reached on a one-out fielder’s choice, with Wagner safe at second after a high throw to the base from third.
Joseph Nizio rounds first while hitting double for Rake Showcase 17U.
The next batter struck out before Travis Church walked to load the bases. Monahan drew an RBI walk, and Price and Vargas also drew run-scoring walks for a 4-0 lead. Josey Lyren followed with a two-run single to right.
Rake, also from Pennsylvania, scored in the third. Joseph Nizio led off with a double to the left-field corner. David Kondravy singled to shortstop, with Nizio holding at second. A ground out to third advanced the runners, and Andrew Golderer hit an RBI groundout to second.
The Reds finish the tournament with a Friday morning matchup against the LIB Expos Blue (3-0).
Rake winds up on Friday with a game against Complete Performance Baseball Academy Scout (2-0-1).