By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Evan Vinci wasn’t going to let a rough patch in third inning keep him from what he wanted. Eastridge’s senior right-hander retired 10 of the last 12 batters he faced to notch a complete-game victory.
“I knew I had to get through the bottom of the lineup,” Vinci said after the Lancers 7-2 win over Wayne in Section V Baseball action on Monday. “That was my first complete game, and I wanted it. I just had to get through that first out and I knew it was downhill from there.”
Vinci struck out eight and allowed two unearned runs on six hits and one walk to improve to 2-1 on the season.
“It feels really good,” he said. “I just knew I had to go out there and throw strikes. I have a good team behind me.”
Evan Vinci strands runners on the corners. Right-hander is through 6 with @ERidgeLancers leading @WCSD_Athletics 3-2. pic.twitter.com/c23E5zQ450
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) April 18, 2022
The win was the third straight for Eastridge (5-4).
“We had been struggling to find some consistency,” first-year head coach Chris Taylor said. “Over the last three games, we’ve been getting clutch hits in timely situations and pitching has been coming through.”
Connor Welch paced the offense going 2-for-3 on the day. The senior outfielder capped a three-run first inning with a run-scoring double to give Eastridge a lead it did not surrender.
Wayne’s Sean Nellis brought home a pair of runs with a two-out infield single in third inning to cut the deficit to one.
But Vinci made sure the Eagles didn’t get any closer.
“That is his bulldog mentality,” Taylor said of the starter’s ability to recover from allowing the two runs. “That’s him. He won’t think about it. He just wants to throw zeroes the rest of the game. He wasn’t hit hard all game. That little one led to two runs, and he’s not going to let that affect him.”
Welch drove in two more runs with a two-out base hit in the seventh, and Eastridge went on to score two more runs in the inning.
Connor Welch adds a pair of insurance runs for @ERidgeLancers with a two-out single. pic.twitter.com/cJdrRdR360
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) April 18, 2022
“It definitely took a lot of pressure off me,” Vinci said of the insurance runs. “I could go out there and keep throwing.”
Vinci finished with seven groundball outs to go with the eight batters retired on strikes and did not allow an extra-base hit in the game.
“When he’s on the mound we can compete with anybody,” Taylor said. “He mixes his pitches. He can throw a curveball in a fastball counts and fastballs in a curveball counts. Changes location really well.
“He wants the ball. We were talking about going for the seventh and what was our plan. He wanted the ball. We want him to have the ball.”
PJ Cutaia went 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBI. Brennen Russo walked twice, had a hit and scored a run. Ryan Greenhagen added a hit and scored while Evan Brown crossed home twice for the Lancers. Thomas Bareham also scored for Eastridge.
Ronald Cassano and Brady Ruffel scored a run apiece for Wayne (2-2). Brandon Benkovics, Jared Dier, Michael Prentice and Lucas Kielon had a hit apiece for the Eagles.
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