Stevenson beats Carmel in ‘wacky’ marathon
You figure to be in for a long day at the baseball diamond if your team gives up 13 hits and commits 7 errors in a single game.
The hours were piling up on Stevenson Saturday afternoon, that’s for sure.
Three hours to be exact.
But Stevenson’s marathon nonconference game against visiting Carmel wasn’t simply a product of Carmel rolling up 13 hits. Or of the Patriots committing 7 errors.
Stevenson also did its share to drag things out.
The Patriots answered with big numbers of their own. Bigger, actually.
They racked up 16 hits on their way to a 17-10 victory that moves them to 3-0 on the season.
For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a total of 27 runs and 29 hits between the two teams.
“It was a wacky game, that’s for sure,” Carmel coach Joe May said.
“You don’t expect (so much offense) on a cold day like this.”
The long, drawn-out hitting binges also caused frequent pitching changes by both teams. A total of nine pitchers wound up taking the mound.
And errors? There were 11 between the teams.
No wonder the game lasted longer than some Major League games.
“Our defensive struggles have been going on for all three of our games this season. We’ve really got to tighten that up,” Stevenson centerfielder Max Golembo said. “But we know that our bats will pick us up because we have a strong offense. We know that if we’re having trouble defensively that we can drive in some runs. We’re confident in our bats.”
Golembo’s bat gave the Patriots a big shot of confidence.
He drove in 2 runs with a single to left field in the fifth inning to break up a 10-10 tie and give the Patriots the lead for good.
“There’s a lot of good to take out of this,” Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca said. “Our hitters kept us in the game. Max’s hit was big. He took what the pitcher gave him and put the ball in play.”
Golembo was 4-for-4 on the day.
Stevenson’s potent offensive attack also included home runs from Jacob Sholl and Adam Walton. Sholl had a double as well.
On top of all that, the Patriots got at least 2 hits out of Michael Martin, Barratt Saks and Ricky Kern.
Meanwhile, Carmel, which drops to 0-3 on the season, also had some big hitters.
Steve Sliwa had a home run and was 3-for-4 on the day. Tommy Ryan had 2 doubles and 3 hits on the day while Brian Serio and Luke Venegoni had 2 hits apiece.
“We got off to a good start and were able to capitalize on some of their errors, but not enough of them,” Sliwa said.
“They were hitting the ball in the holes really well. Better than we were. We needed to find a way to get on (base) more to keep up. And we really needed to take advantage of those errors.”
Errors have been a theme for Stevenson since the season started.
In their first three games, the Patriots have committed 16 errors.
“Unfortunately, our nemesis has been us these first three games,” Mazzuca said. “It’s a concern. Hopefully, we can take care of that. If you keep giving teams more than three outs in an inning, it’s going to come back to haunt you. We got lucky today.”