By PAUL GOTHAM
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — Through their first six games of the 2021 season, Joey Kuhn’s Irondequoit Eagles had yet to face a deficit.
That trend continued Friday afternoon. Though the means by which it was accomplished took on a slightly different appearance.
Brian Tisa plated two with a double as part of five-run third inning, and a trio of pitchers had more than enough runs.
“It’s a great game to play with a lead,” Kuhn said after Irondequoit’s 11-1 win over Batavia. “When you play baseball ahead, you can steal. You can bunt. You can do those things.”
The Eagles did plenty of that.
Nick Calarco led the third with a single through the left side and stole second. The quarterback on the school’s football team moved to third when his running back Jaleel Davis pushed a bunt to the third base side of pitcher’s mound and reached first to put runners on the corners. Brody Froman walked to load the bases, and Connor Gresens brought home the first run when he was hit by a pitch.
Tisa followed with a drive to left center. Joe Wintermute brought in another run in an inning which saw six of seven Eagles reach base at one point.
Brian Tisa plates 2 with a double. pic.twitter.com/Aylws6afDQ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 14, 2021
“It hasn’t been the case all year,” Kuhn said of the hits coming in bunches. “We’ve kinda gotten leads and let teams hang around and just hung on for dear life.”
Joe Lessard hurled four scoreless innings for his first varsity win. Using heavy doses of his curveball/slider combination, the junior right-hander struck out four and retired seven of the last eight he faced.
“I definitely had it going today,” he said of his breaking ball. “I was able to throw it for strikes. That was really working. When I’m hitting my spots like I was today, I feel like I’m effective.”
Sam Lessard works a 1-2-3 third. No score Batavia and Irondequoit. pic.twitter.com/zUbpn6ywR9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 14, 2021
Last week, Lessard needed 68 pitches to get through three innings in a win over Brockport. On Friday, he threw 60 pitches to get 12 outs.
“We shook things up at catcher,” Kuhn explained. “Connor Gresens is our usual catcher. He caught our first six games. Sam’s best friend is Connor Springer. Springer has played seven positions this year, but he’s mainly a catcher. This was his first time though.
“He caught a lot of curveballs throughout the count and mixed up pitches. I think that was a big difference for Sam’s confidence on the mound and trusting what the catcher was calling.”
Good contact off the bat of Vince Grazioplene. Connor Gresens stays with the play for the third out in the top of the first. Batavia 0 @ITown_Baseball coming to the plate. pic.twitter.com/V3bVQkfgON
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 14, 2021
Dillon Fisher tossed two scoreless innings in relief. Froman hurled the seventh.
Irondequoit (7-0) added six more runs in the fourth. Davis started the stanza with a double. One out later, Springer walked. After a double-steal, Gresens doubled to left to score two. Wintermute single through the left side of the infield to bring in another run, and Paul Tuttle plated two with a double.
Five of Irondequoit’s six previous wins came by one run including a pair of walk-off victories. Friday’s performance put Kuhn at ease.
“That was a convenient thing for my blood pressure,” the third-year coach joked.
Al Johnson singled and scored the lone Batavia (1-4) run in the seventh inning. Parker Kleinbach collected two hits for the Blue Devils.
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