By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With the sting of a one-run loss still lingering in their minds, the Eastridge Lancers turned to junior Avery Bowens, Thursday night. The junior right-hander responded with his second win of the season.
Bowens hurled six innings, and Eastridge defeated the Wayne Eagles, 2-1 in Section V action at Frontier Field.
“He’s been pitching well,” Eastridge coach Mike Screen said. “Today was probably his best outing of the year.”
Mixing a low fastball with a breaking ball he was able to throw for strikes, Bowens kept Wayne off balance when he needed. He escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the fourth with a pair of punch outs, and left the tying run on third in the sixth when he fanned his final batter of the night.
“Usually he’s walked a couple too many,” Screen added. “Today he kept that down. His curveball was working, and he was just composed.”
Bowens tripled and scored on a Jayden Fayad base hit in the first. Two innings later, John Montana sparked a two-out rally with a double. Jacob Russo followed with a single, and the Lancers had a 2-0 advantage.
One day after dropping their third one-run decision of the season, the Lancers put the past behind them and looked ahead to the rest of the season.
“We had a heart to heart after our game yesterday,” Screen noted. “We said we need a new approach. We went back to the drawing board.
“We brought the right attitude as a team today. You can’t sleep on any team in Section V. We came out and played hard all seven innings.”
Steven Kemp retired the side in order in the ninth. The sophomore right-hander struck out the first two he faced and induced a ground ball for the final out of the game.
“He wanted it,” Screen said of his reliever. “He said ‘it’s my turn.’ He went out there and he had the right attitude.”
Fayad and Montana both finished 2-for-4 for Eastridge (8-7) which gave up three runs in the sixth in a 3-2 loss to Greece Olympia on Wednesday.
Brendan Brown doubled for the Lancers. Shane Harisis singled and walked.
Bowens allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings in a 7-2 win over East High on May 3rd. He threw seven shutout in an extra-inning 1-0 loss to Spencerport on April 26th.
Tommy Bolt took the tough-luck loss on Thursday. Bolt set down 11 on strikes over seven innings. Logan Holgado doubled to score Sean Flannery in the fifth.
Wayne is 8-6 on the season.
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