In a game that saw the return of senior Brooks Fitch to the pitcher's mound and the departure of Coach Gallo from the third base coach's box, Malibu defeated Grace Brethren, 7-5, on Saturday.
Fitch, making his first varsity start since last May, threw 48 pitches (including 32 strikes) in three innings of work. Although he recorded no strikeouts, only one ball was hit hard off of him. As a measure of his effectiveness, Fitch recorded five assists while on the mound.
Grace Brethren jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a hit batter, an error on a pickoff attempt, a base hit, a balk, and a run-scoring groundout. The Sharks answered quickly, though, with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Greg Kernodle led off with a single up the middle. Jacob Perrin followed with a single through the left side of the infield. Fitch walked to load the bases and Stephen Williams notched his seventeenth RBI of the season when he was hit with a pitch. Michael Gwyn followed with a base hit that scored Perrin and Fitch. Two controversial plays followed that set the tone for the rest of the game.
With Gwyn on first and Williams on second, Jace Dispenza attempted to bunt. After fouling a bunt attempt, Dispenza missed on the second pitch. Gwyn was picked off first, touching off a furor in the Malibu stands. Dispenza was called out on strikes on the next pitch, which was a high fastball. Nate Schoenbrun then flied to center for what appeared to be the thrid out of the inning. The home plate umpire ruled that catcher's interference hahd occurred on the swing, so Schoenbrun was awarded first base. Jake Jesson walked to load the bases, but Dusty Kramer grounded to third to end the inning.
Grace Brethren scored a single run in the top of the third on a single, a sacrifice bunt, an infield groundout, and a wild pitch.
Malibu answered with two runs in the bottom of the third to go up 5-3. Gwyn led off with a double to center. After Dispenza flied to center, Schoenbrun singled Gwyn to third. Gwyn scored when Jesson reached on an error. Kramer's single then drove in Schoenbrun.
More controversy erupted in the bottom of the fourth inning. Williams led off with a single. He moved to second and Gwyn reached first when the Grace Brethren second baseman booted a double play ball. Dispenza singled to load the bases and set up one of the more bizarre plays of the season thus far.
On an 0-1 pitch, Nate Schoenbrun executed a perfect bunt on a ball that bounced five feet in front of home plate. The plate umpire called the ball dead, indicating that the ball could not be struck after hitting the ground. As Gallo argued the call, the ruling became that Schoenbrun was out for contacting the ball with one foot completely out of the batter's box.. After more argument, Gallo was ejected from the game, leaving Coach Bobby Lehmkuhl and Coach Jeff Drobman to manage the rest of the game for Malibu. The inning ended with the bases loaded and no runs in for the Sharks.
With Perrin on in relief of Fitch, Grace Brethren went down in order in its half of the fourth inning. However, two base hits and two errors led to two runs for Grace Brethren in the fifth inning.
The Sharks went quietly in the fifth. After Perrin got out of a first-and-third jam in the sixth, Malibu scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
With one out, Dispenza picked up his second hit of the game, a single to right center. Schoenbrun walked. Sean Conrad traded places with Schoenbrun on a fielder's choice as Dispenza moved to third. With the game in the balance, freshman Tony Gwyn stepped in for his first at bat at the varsity level. After running the count to 2-2, Gwyn fouled off a pitch. He then beat out a slow roller up the third base line that scored Dispenza with the go-ahead run. Kernodle followed with a single that scored Conrad to make the score 7-5.
In the top of the seventh, Perrin surrendered a two-out single. Appropriately, the game ended with additional controversy as a ball hit off the batter's foot rolled to Gwyn at third who threw to first for the final out of the game.
On the day, Kernodle, Gwyn, Dispenza, and Schoenbrun had two hits apiece. Perrin picked up the win with four solid innings of relief.
2 comments:
That's certainly my understanding.
Perhaps I should clarify my comment. Like you, I don't think it's a dead ball. Nor does Ichiro Suzuki, who hit a homerun last year on a ball that bounced before it reached the plate.
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