Shockers slugger Connor Murray is greeted at home by Gavin Wisnoski after his first inning solo HR
By Rich Bevensee
The pitching staff may be the strongest part of the nationally-ranked PA Shockers 15U baseball team, and some of the credit for the staff’s performance has to go to Brett Pollock, who was thrown into catching duty just two years ago.
“One of our catchers stopped playing baseball and I volunteered,” Pollock said. “It’s been fun because I’m in on every pitch. I’m locked in the whole game.”
With Pollock calling pitches and a trio of his teammates displaying both exceptional control and pitch versatility, the GoWags Brawlers got a taste of how difficult it is to hit Shockers pitching on Friday night.
Gavin Wisnoski, Trent Lutz and Carson Glose combined on a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts and the PA Shockers rode their performance to a 3-0 Boys of Summer pool play victory at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“I’ve caught them for two years now so I know what they throw and what’s good for them and what’s on,” Pollock said. “Gavin’s curveball was better than his slider today. Trent’s fastball moves really well. Carson commanded his fastball, and he didn’t throw that many sliders but when he did they were located well.”
The Shockers, whom Perfect Game has ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania and No. 77 in the U.S., are coming off a perfect 4-0 week in the 15U Garden State Invitational last week at Diamond Nation. Earlier this summer the Shockers went a combined 9-2 in southern trips to Georgia and North Carolina.
Later on Friday, the Shockers added a 12-0 win over Morris County Cubs White. The Shockers closed pool play against the New York Grays on Saturday.
Connor Murray, a 6-2, 185-pound rising sophomore at Pennridge High in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, blasted a majestic, solo home run for the Shockers in the top of the first inning. It was his second of the summer but his first over the fence. Murray started as a freshman shortstop at Pennridge last spring.
Jaxson Kreider scored on a wild pitch in the second inning, and Wisnoski helped himself with an opposite-field, RBI single to left in the third to account for the Shockers scoring.
The GoWags program, based in Camp Hill, Pa., a small borough outside Harrisburg, entered the Boys of Summer event 15-7 and are coming off a runner-up finish in a Perfect Game event last week.
To its credit, the GoWags pitching was nearly as stingy as the Shockers’ as right-handers Dom Haas and Tommy Powell combined to yield just four hits.
Shockers starting pitcher Gavin Wisnoski helped his cause with an opposite field RBI single.
Haas, a rising junior at Trinity High in Camp Hill, surrendered a hit in each of the first three innings and left after five innings. He gave up three walks and struck out 11.
“Dom did a heck of a job mixing his pitches and keeping them off balance,” Brawlers coach Josh Keller said. “They hit a home run off him but otherwise he did really well. He’s been working really hard on that first pitch strike. He struggled with it the first couple innings but then he really settled in.”
Powell pitched two scoreless innings in relief and allowed one hit and struck out two.
The Brawlers defeated the New York Grays, 8-0, later on Friday. GoWags faced Morris County Cubs White on Saturday.
The first Shockers pitcher to shut down the Brawlers was Wisnoski, who allowed one hit and one walk and struck out two in 2⅓ innings by mixing a two-seam and four-seam fastball with a changeup, curveball and slider. He was on a 30-pitch limit because he’s headed for a baseball camp at the University of North Carolina next week.
“Because I’m going to camp this week I wanted to keep it short and still be productive,” said Wisnoski, a rising sophomore at Souderton Area High. “I started off a little slow but my teammates had my back and I beared down at the end. My curveball was working pretty good today – I got a lot of swings and misses.”
Lutz, also a rising sophomore at Souderton, entered with one out in the third and pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings. He permitted two walks and struck out four.
Glose, a rising sophomore at Pope John Paul II High in Royersford, unleashed his 84 mph fastball and struck out four of the seven batters he faced while allowing two walks in two innings.
“We allowed one hit – can’t be mad at that,” Shockers coach Frank Pollock said. “They trusted the guys behind them and the rest took care of itself. We threw a lot of first pitch strikes and got ahead in a lot of counts. That’s a tremendous benefit.”
The trio of Shockers pitchers also benefited from Pollock gunning down two baserunners with a pair of pinpoint throws to the first base side of second base.
“I played middle infield before I volunteered to catch, so that helps with the quick hands,” said Pollock, another rising Souderton sophomore. “Since I started catching, I started out with a 2.3 pop time and now it’s just above 2.0. In a big game I’d prefer to catch because we have a lot of other talented middle infielders that we trust – and I like being in every play.”