BY PATRICK WALSH
John DeBoover hurled a complete game shutout, fanning 10 and allowing three hits as Midlakes defeated Penn Yan, 3-0 in Section V Baseball, Thursday.
“He really picked us up big time,” said head coach Jake Knapp. “It makes the defense rally behind you, he’s usually a guy we have come in relief.”
DeBoover allowed just one ball to leave the infield in the first 4.1 innings. He retired 14 of the first 18 batters faced.
“I just never gave up,” said DeBoover. “I had confidence and I knew I could do it.”
Penn Yan’s Brady Bouchard toed the rubber for the Mustangs. The right-hander hurled six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and fanning 14. Midlakes was able to break through in the sixth and that proved to be the difference.
“He throws hard,” Knapp said of Bouchard. “The boys just came out and rallied, we’ve been preaching making adjustments at the plate since the first day of practice and they did what they were supposed to do.”
In the sixth, Kyle Kumkey connected on a two-out single to start the rally. A wild pitch and a Brady Day single moved Kumkey to third. That is when DeBoover smoked a single up the middle, driving in Kumkey to get the Eagles on the board.
“I was just trying to stay back on the curve, hit it up the middle and that’s what I did,” said DeBoover.
After the DeBoover single, freshman Braxton Wilkes grounded one through the right side that scored both Day and DeBoover to pad the Midlakes lead.
“At first I was just looking to make contact, because I knew we had runners on second and third and just wanted to cash them in,” said Wilkes.
Wilkes worked a five-pitch at bat before connecting on the single.
“I kept fouling them away so I kept seeing the ball deeper and I just swung on that one,” said Wilkes.
Midlakes avenged a 4-2 loss to Penn Yan earlier in the season.
“Baseball is just a funny game. You can lose to a team 15-5 and come and beat them. We did that against Wayne this year too. This is a team that has grit, it’s a team that has fight and they showed it today,” said Knapp.
Grit is a perfect word to describe DeBoover’s outing. In the fourth inning, DeBoover soaked up a line drive to the leg and threw the runner out at first. He also forced Penn Yan to leave six baserunners on, including stranding a runner at third in three innings.
“That ball didn’t faze me,” DeBoover said.
DeBoover and Bouchard combined for 24 strikeouts in the game. Bouchard recorded three 1-2-3 innings in the game.
Day and DeBoover both finished 2-for-3 with a run scored to lead the Eagles’ offense. Kumkey and Wilkes added the other two hits for Midlakes.
Bouchard, Anthony Sciallo and Riley Griffiths tallied the other hits for Penn Yan.
Amber says
What a game!!!!!!!
Morgan says
Wow