Little, Mayock throw no-hitter for Conestoga
TREDYFFRIN — Most baseball teams that lose 17 seniors to graduation and only bring back two starters from a team that went to the PIAA Class AAAA finals last season, would likely see a large drop off in production.
Most teams aren’t Conestoga.
Monday afternoon, two Conestoga pitchers, Brendon Little and sophomore Angus Mayock combined on a no-hitter as the Pioneers defeated Lower Merion, 12-2, in a five-inning Central League affair at Conestoga High School.
The professional scouts mobbed the stands as they watched every move Little made before and during the game. The senior worked three innings, allowed no hits, struck out nine and walked four as he struggled with his control. They left after Little reached his pitch count goal of 74, but Mayock came in and was impressive, throwing two no-hit innings with a lively fastball.
“Yeah, it is kind of funny that the scouts left when I came in,’ Mayock joked. But, I just threw strikes and my defense was real good behind me and that is the secret to pitching. I think we can be right in the thick of the Central League race if we stay healthy. We have good chemistry on this team and everybody pulls for each other.’
The Pioneers (3-0 Central, 3-0 overall) scored five runs on just two hits in the second inning off Aces (0-1, 0-1) starter Mike Michanowski. The two big hits were RBI singles by Jonah Siegal and Tim Miller. Michanowski walked three batters and hit a batter in the inning to aid the Pioneers effort.
After Little was gone after three innings, Mayock a 6-foot-4 sophomore wowed the crowd that stayed around by retiring the Aces on just 11 pitches in the fourth inning and 12 pitches in the fifth.
“It was pretty cool to throw a no hitter,’ Mayock said. “We really did not know it was going on until the last inning.’
Conestoga showed its impressive offensive prowess in the bottom of the fourth off reliever Dean Pritchard. The Pioneers sent 10 men to the plate in the inning, scoring five runs and opening the game up at 10-2.
Another impressive junior, Greyson Avots, who Lower Merion did not retire in four at-bats, laced a long two-run triple to center field to plate two Conestoga runs in the inning. Freshman catcher Luke Czepiel, who had three hits and a RBI on the day, as the number nine hitter, with Avots being number eight in the order.
“I was seeing the ball real well today,’ Avots said. “It was coming in real nice and I was nice and relaxed up there. I hit better when I am relaxed and I was today. A lot of teams that would lose all those players would take a big step back but we feel we have the talent to compete in this league and we all get along real well.’
Conestoga put two runners across the plate with one out in the bottom of the fifth to invoke the 10-run rule and take a 12-2 win. Avots ripped an RBI single to make it 11-2 and Czepiel ended the game with a RBI double to deep right.
Despite the changes, it sure looks like the same old Conestoga.
“Greyson and Luke really pulled us through today, along with Angus and Brendon,’ Conestoga coach John Vogan said. “And Brendon say all the attention doses not bother him but it has to at some point. He is doing a good job of handling it every day and today their really was a crowd. But, we played good defense today and got hits when we needed them. Their starter threw real hard but we adjusted the second time through the lineup.’
