By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Victor baseball sent 10 to the plate in a five-run sixth inning, and Max Friedlander hurled a complete game as the Blue Devils defeated Webster Schroeder, 9-3 in Monroe County Division I action on Monday.
Matt Brady and Andrew Haugh connected on back-to-back two-run hits as Victor pulled away for its second straight win.
“We just had some clutch at-bats,” Victor head coach Sean Rucker said. “We got into really deep counts and good at-bats. A walk and then a bunt and things happened for us. Things kept rolling.”
Tied at three, Connor Cronin and Zach Prior worked back-to-back base on balls. Cronin beat the throw to third on Ben Swackhamer’s sacrifice bunt to load the bases, and Brady followed with a single to left center scoring Cronin and Prior.
Haugh kept the inning going with a triple to straight center, and Carter Fink capped the scoring with an RBI single through the left side.
“We were right there in the end and made a few clutch plays,” Rucker noted. “Offense hung in there.”
With the lead in hand, Friedlander retired six of the last seven batters he faced for his second win of the season.
“I had room to work with so I wanted to go out there and throw strikes,” Friedlander said. “I got ahead in counts and was staying down in the zone with strikes.”
The senior right-hander struck out seven and walked one while allowing four hits in the game. He set down eight of nine from the first inning through the end of the third.
Big time effort by @FriedlanderMax !!! #dpalum https://t.co/v0KySn0PH7
— Diamond Pro (@DiamondPro3) May 3, 2022
“He had plus velocity, and he could throw his breaking ball in any count,” Rucker explained. “Our defense played well behind him. He lasted because he got through some innings without throwing a lot of pitches.”
The gloves behind Friedlander converted 11 ground ball outs including a pair of gems from shortstop Cooper Loyal who made two stops on balls up the middle including a grab to get a force for the second out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
@cooperloyal2023 is out of his mind 🤯🤯 !!! https://t.co/yRmGeph2hY
— Diamond Pro (@DiamondPro3) May 3, 2022
Victor never trailed in the game but also couldn’t get any separation from Schroeder.
Friedlander’s two-out bloop double into shallow center scored Loyal from first in the Blue Devils’ opening at-bat.
Schroeder (9-4) knotted the game in the home half when Luke Pagano scored on a Peyton Sanfilippo RBI groundout.
Victor used another two-out rally this one in the third with Fink bringing home Loyal on a double to right center. The Warriors tied the game in the fourth when Sanfilippo and Matt Salina connected on back-to-back two-baggers.
@matthewsalina3 hammering #dpalum https://t.co/vhvljtzdq4
— Diamond Pro (@DiamondPro3) May 3, 2022
Haugh led the Victor fifth with a triple and scored on Loyal’s single to left. Jack Cannon knocked a one-out single in the home half and stole a pair of bases before Tyler Stack knotted the game at three with a single.
@cooperloyal2023 highlight reel https://t.co/X8nCvP43eb
— Diamond Pro (@DiamondPro3) May 3, 2022
Victor’s offense took over from there.
“It was a sigh of relief,” Friedlander said of the big inning.
Victor (6-7) snapped Schroeder’s six-game winning streak. In their previous outing, the Blue Devils stopped Churchville-Chili’s seven-game streak.
DP boys connection @carter_fink05 @cooperloyal2023 https://t.co/vuBeYspIGn
— Diamond Pro (@DiamondPro3) May 3, 2022
“It’s execution and it wasn’t there early in the season a lot of times, but now it’s starting to click a little bit,” Rucker said. “We’re on a roll. We’re a decent team and we hang in there with the good teams.”
The same two teams meet Wednesday with a 5 p.m. first pitch scheduled at Victor.
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