Matthew Brooks legs out a ground ball for the Cyclones 16U in Fall League action.
By Rich Bevensee
Cole Mayer hadn’t pitched in a game for nearly two months but as soon as he toed the rubber, he still felt perfectly at home on the pitcher’s mound.
Kevin Woodring would have it no other way than to be dropped into a late-inning, high-leverage situation. That’s his comfort zone.
With both righties doing what they do best, the Out Of The Park Cyclones 16U ballclub was in good hands in the midst of a pitcher’s duel.
Mayer, looking as though he never took time off, pitched a one-hit shutout through 4⅔ innings, and Woodring pitched himself in and out of trouble in the fifth with the game still in doubt.
On the shoulders of these two confident pitchers, the Cyclones claimed a 5-1, five-inning decision over the Top Corner Sports Greyhawks in the Diamond Nation High School Fall League on Thursday evening in Flemington.
The Cyclones (2-1) are back in action Tuesday against the TCS Blackhawks (1-4-1). The Greyhawks (2-3-1) return to ‘The Nation’ on Tuesday to take on Flemington Baseball Association Jays White (0-6).
The Cyclones’ bottom half of the fifth began with seven minutes left on the game clock, which meant that Greyhawks needed a quick inning to get another at bat. But three walks to load the bases chewed up much of that time.
Then Jack Lilly earned a bases-loaded walk to break a 1-1 tie. And in the final minute, Woodring roped a double into the right-center field gap to clear the bases and end the game.
Jacob Colon singled and walked twice for the Greyhawks on Thursday night.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the top of the fifth, Mayer had just notched his eighth strikeout when he handed off to Woodring, having reached 81 pitches. With two out and none on, Woodring surrendered three straight soft contact singles to load the bases.
The next Greyhawks batter, Dominico Kallesser, blasted a ground ball which appeared headed through the middle for a go-ahead RBI single, but Woodring snared it and threw to first to end the threat.
“I thrive in those situations,” said Woodring, who relied on his four-seam fastball and slider. “I’d rather come into the game in the sixth inning and the bases loaded than start a game. I’m built for moments like that.”
Woodring, a 6-3, 180-pound senior at North Hunterdon, missed most of the high school season last spring with a hamstring injury, but a solid summer allowed him to re-establish his confidence. He said that building that kind of confidence didn’t come without overcoming a few hiccups first.
“Experience in this game is huge,” Woodring said. “I’ve been playing this game my whole life and I’ve learned a few things, like trusting myself. There have been times where I would get a little erratic but every time I’d fix myself. I stay locked in on the catcher’s glove and stay fluid with my mechanics. My dad always told me it’s just you and the catcher.”
Mayer was dynamite for the Cyclones through nearly five innings after not having pitched in a game since early August. The Dunellen senior said he chose to give his arm a rest from game action and had been training at Total Arm Care in Wharton (the same site where the Morris County Cubs train).
But when Cyclones coach Nick Richter called Mayer to say the team was short-handed and needed a pitcher to start Thursday’s game, Mayer never hesitated.
“I said yeah instantly,” Mayer said. “I was a little nervous at first but once I got back on the mound and started finding my pitches, I felt a lot better. It’s been a while but I felt comfortable. I love pitching and it felt good to be back on the mound.”
Mayer, a 6-2, 175-pound righty, employed a four- and two-seam fastball with his curveball and slider to whiff eight batters while allowing one hit and three walks over 4⅔ innings.
The only blemish on his pitching chart Thursday was surrendering an RBI single to Declan Lynch in the top of the first inning. Mayer faced first and third with two out in the third inning but escaped by inducing a fielder’s choice grounder.
“I threw mainly fastballs ‘cause it’s my first time on the mound in a while,” Mayer said. “I did a lot better than I expected for the first time being back on a mound. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in my offspeed work but it’ll come back to me.”
Mayer said a big reason why he was pitching so well was the adrenaline rush he received from competing in a pitcher’s duel. Greyhawks righty Jude Chiavaroli, a sophomore at Immaculata, silenced the Cyclones through his four innings of work while scattering two hits and four walks with five strikeouts. He allowed an unearned run in the second inning and the score remained at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth.
Woodring went 2-for-3 for the Cyclones, Marco Barretta doubled, and Lilly, Alex DiPierro and Vivaan Gandhi each walked twice.
For the Greyhawks, Jacob Colon singled and walked twice, and Garrett Goldsack and Brayden Ahimovic each had a base hit.