Leadoff hitter Lucas Gonnella singled and scored for the TCS Whitehawks.
By Rich Bevensee
A sub-par start on the mound last week sent Ryan Martin back to the proverbial chalkboard, as he tried to figure out why all of his pitches were veering left of the plate.
After tinkering with his setup, Martin found a comfort zone that would inevitably lead his Top Corner Sports Whitehawks ballclub to a much-needed win.
Martin and Kaleb Kliemisch, sophomore classmates at Hunterdon Central, combined for a two-hit shutout and the Whitehawks halted a two-game slide with a 3-0 victory over Go The Distance in the Diamond Nation High School Fall League on Wednesday evening in Flemington.
The Whitehawks suffered back-to-back 11-1 losses to Flemington American Legion Post 159 and the Hackettstown Tigers before Martin and Kliemisch righted the ship.
“I think a win like this almost creates a spark for everyone else to follow,” Kliemisch said. “Me and Ryan have not had our best stuff this year but today we came out and showed we can do much better. I think it helps others, showing that even when you’re struggling you can still come back and do well the next day.”
The Whitehawks (3-5) are back in action on Monday against Whitehouse American Legion Post 284 (4-0) and on Tuesday against William Allen (2-1).
Go The Distance, which received a strong showing from righties Vic Prignano and Nick Muschella, was shut out for the second straight game and fell to 1-3.
Martin, a 6-foot, 155-pound righty, allowed two hits and one walk over four shutout innings and struck out one using his four- and two-seam fastballs, splitter and slider. He gave up a triple to Go The Distance’s first batter, Andrew Kucsma, then stranded him there and proceeded to retire 11 of the next 13 batters.
His performance was a far cry from his previous start, when he gave up six runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks in two innings against Flemington American Legion Post 159 on Sept. 22.
“My last game I was missing left a lot, my arm was falling away and I was thinking how I can change it,” Martin said. “I figured it out on my own. I switched a little bit where I was standing on the mound – from further left on the mound to staying in the middle – and it definitely helped with my control.
“My offspeed was feeling great today and I felt like I mixed it up very well. I’d definitely say this was one of my better outings.”
Kliemisch, a 5-11, 160-pound righty, tacked on three more shutout innings for the Whitehawks. Leaning on his fastball with only a smattering of curveballs, he gave up just two walks and struck out four.
Luke Olynik scrambles to first for Go The Distance.
“Just what we needed,” Whitehawks coach John Wernicki said. “They threw a lot of first-pitch strikes and were getting ahead of batters. They were aware of the count. On 0-2 counts we don’t want to throw a fastball right down the middle and so they were making them guess a little bit which was great. On top of that our defense made some plays today. When good defense mixes with good pitching, that’s what you’re gonna get.”
The Whitehawks opened the game with two runs in the first inning and rode the arms of Martin and Kliemisch from there.
Lucas Gonnella, Joe Guerra and Brayden Schneider each singled to load the bases in the top half of the first. With one out Evan Zangara coaxed a walk to force home the first run and David Torres followed with a groundout RBI for a 2-0 lead.
The Whitehawks tacked on a key insurance run in the seventh when Lucas Dalfonzo and Nick Guerra earned one-out walks and No. 11 batter Bertie Walker drove in Dalfonzo with a two-out single to right.
Assisting Martin and Kliemisch in the shutout was an errorless defensive effort by the Whitehawks. Catcher Joe Guerra threw out a baserunner and Torres made two sparkling plays at third, charging slow rollers and making strong running throws to first.
“We had hits when we needed them, pitching was on par, and on top of that, our defense was the key today,” Wernicki said. “We had a lot of plays where normally we don’t make those plays but today we made them. We kept them off the bags and that was the deciding factor.”
For Go The Distance, Prignano allowed two runs in three innings on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Muschella permitted one run in four innings on one hit and three walks with six strikeouts.