Baseball: Haddon’s gem gives Prospect sweep of Fremd
After walking the first two batters he faced Wednesday, Prospect’s Mason Haddon was looking for a key.
“I just needed to lock back in,” said Haddon, who is a junior. “I really had to lock in and go for the next guys and get those outs.”
Haddon found that key and it helped him unlock a solid performance for the Knights as Prospect topped Fremd 2-0 in Palatine.
Haddon used three consecutive strikeouts to end the threat by Fremd in the bottom of the first. He pitched all seven innings, throwing 88 pitches. Haddon allowed just four runners after that, two on hits, one on a walk and the other on an error.
“I was really going for more efficiency than strikeouts,” said Haddon, who improved to 4-1 on the season.
“That really allowed me to last through seven innings.”
The win gave Prospect (10-5, 3-1) a season sweep over defending MSL West champion Fremd in the revamped West Division this season. Prospect beat the Vikings 7-4 on Monday.
“I think we had some really good pitching and defense against them in these two games,” Prospect coach Chris Hoffman said. “Mason (Haddon) had a complete game today and you can’t ask for anything more, especially after the rocky start he had.”
Fremd (11-5, 1-3) also got a terrific performance from its starter. Robby Seifert kept the Knights at bay in the first three innings with 7 of his 11 strikeouts over 5 innings.
Prospect, which left runners in scoring position in the first three innings, finally put things together in the fourth inning when its scored all its runs.
Ryan Sheehan led off the inning with a single with his first of two hits on the day. Seifert then struck out the next two batters, with Sheehan stealing second on the second out.
Nick Benitez, who struck out to end the second inning with a runner on second, vowed to change things with his at-bat in the fourth. True to those feelings, Benitez singled to center, scoring Sheehan to make it 1-0.
“My first at-bat, I watched a perfect pitch and struck out,” Benitez said. “I knew I could not be doing that. So, I was thinking just stay through the ball and don’t miss the pitch I need to hit this at-bat to deliver.”
After Benitez’s hit, the Knights were able to load the bases. Matt Donnelly, who had tripled and doubled in his previous two at-bats, came to the plate and was promptly hit by a pitch to drive in pinch runner Peyton Mulligan for the only other run of the game.
“I think we are feeling good how we are progressing through the season,” said Hoffman, who is in his first year as head coach.
“Just trying to get to know the team and what we are about. It is going very well.”
Fremd, which scored 10 runs Tuesday against St. Viator and had 13 hits against New Trier last Saturday, was stymied by Haddon Wednesday.
“Their pitcher did a real good job,” Fremd coach Chris Piggott said. “He induced a lot of weak contact and we struggled today. You give up two runs and we expect to have good chance to win.”