By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — AJ Gartland had a couple of available excuses at his disposal. The West Irondequoit senior starter didn’t use them.
Gartland shrugged off a 50-minute delay in the game’s start time, endured having to watch his younger brother going down with an injury and went on to hurl a no hitter as Irondequoit defeated the Greece Arcadia Titans, 6-1 in the season opener of Monroe County Division 2 play, Monday.
Gartland, an All-County performer last season, struck out five, walked two and hit one batter for the six-inning no-no. Using his breaking ball early in the count, the left-hander kept Arcadia hitters off-balance all day.
“Getting that curveball over opens everything up if you can get that first strike with it,” Gartland said. “That’s a thing we like to do. Worked a lot on that in the off-season with that. It really helped tonight.”
Before he even toed the rubber, Gartland had enough runs for the win.
Will Porter and Gartland worked back-to-back walks to open the game. Chad Gartland loaded the bases with a single to center before Chris Butler and Jackson DeJohn brought home runs with a RBI ground outs.
“Us jumping out to a two-run lead early helped him get comfortable,” said 21st-year Irondequoit coach Tim Mabb. “We know when he’s on the mound, we have a pretty good shot at being successful. Him coming out in the first inning with a two-run lead just made it seem like he was really comfortable on the mound.”
He surrendered a leadoff walk in the second followed by a pair of errors which brought home Arcadia’s only run. With runners on the corners, Gartland ended the threat with a pair of punch outs.
“Every time there’s a runner on, and we’re early in the inning I just think about how I got to buckle down and get stuff done for my team,” Gartland explained. “I try to take pride in the fact that I’m the first line of defense with these hitters, so I just try to take care of it myself. Don’t even want the ball to get out to the outfield.”
Irondequoit added to its lead in the third when Nick Serce singled home AJ and Chad Gartland with a single to left center.
“It was a fastball right down the middle,” the sophomore first baseman said. “I just took advantage of it and got a hit. I was a little late, but it was a good hit. Just putting the bat on the ball.”
But the victory came at a cost. Trying to beat out a ground ball in the fifth, Chad Gartland landed awkwardly after crossing the bag. The sophomore shortstop/pitcher had to be carted off the field.
“I got motivation once the whole thing happened,” AJ Gartland said of his brother’s injury. “It definitely gave me something to pitch for. Once that happened I didn’t need anything else. Just get back out there and just throw strikes.”
He allowed just two balls out of the infield – a pair of routine fly balls that Porter comfortably settled under in centerfield.
“He’s just a really, really effective pitcher,” Mabb said.
Serce finished with two hits and a walk.
The game’s start was delayed 50 minutes when umpires arrived late. The game was called because of darkness in the middle of the seventh.
The two teams will switch scenes and meet at Irondequoit on Wednesday.
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