By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ben Mulhall hurled five shutout innings, and the Webster-Schroeder Warriors pounded out 10 hits on their way to a 12-0 victory over the Spencerport Rangers in Monroe County Division 2 action at Basket Road Field, Wednesday.
Mulhall struck out four, walked one and allowed two hits in his first appearance of the season.
“Ben is a quality pitcher,” said 16th-year Webster-Schroeder head coach Matt Knight. “He’s going to be a big part of our team this year. He’s got natural movement on his ball. Nothing straight. Everything is moving. It’s hard to hit.”
The senior left-hander retired the first 11 batters he faced and did not allow a runner past second.
“I try to be aggressive and attack the zone as much as I can,” Mulhall said. “I try to focus on first-pitch strikes and attack from there. When I’m in control, I can change eye level and get batters to chase.”
The first hit he allowed was a two-out single in the fourth when Aidan Eldridge went back up the middle. Nicholas Bellone went with an outside fastball and pushed a hit through the right side of the infield in the fifth. Mulhall issued his only walk one out later, but ended the threat with a weak ground ball on the right side of the infield.
“His fastball has got a lot of movement,” said battery mate Phil Ferranti. “That helps a lot just keeping hitters off-balance. He was relaxed out there and ready to pitch out there for the first time this year.”
Ferranti delivered the big blow in a five-run fourth when the Warrior put the game out of reach. The senior catcher drilled a one-out single to left center scoring two.
“I just fought through a first-pitch strike and tried to put the bat on the ball. It found a hole.”
Ferranti finished the day with three RBI.
Schroeder leadoff hitter Shane Marshall went 3-for-3 with three RBI including a two-out, two-run single in the second to give Schroeder a 3-0 lead. Marshall also scored two runs in the game
But for Knight what was equally as important was the production from the bottom of his order where Connor Bisaillon collected two hits in four trips to the plate and scored two runs. Michael Masucci was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Tommy Winn walked twice and crossed the plate once.
“What’s nice is the guys late in the order are hitting the ball too. Everybody knows about a few of our players, but these guys late in the order are doing the job.
“We were patient. We waited for our pitch. Just looking for a good ball to hit and hit it hard.”
One season after winning the program’s first sectional title and advancing to the state final, the Warriors have started 2-0.
“The bar has been set high the last two or three years,” Knight stated. “The group even before last year they were such a quality group. Just the way that they worked and the way that they came to put out their best effort. They set the bar. It’s become the level of effort we need to keep.”
Gage Domuracki came out of the bullpen and tossed two shutout innings for Schroeder. The junior right-hander struck out four.
Spencerport’s Joshua Brase started and struck out five over three innings of work.
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