LOWER GWYNEDD >> Plymouth Whitemarsh entered the 2024 season believing its pitching staff would be a strength. Through four Suburban One League Liberty Division games, it looks like they were right.
The Colonials improved to 4-0 Tuesday afternoon with a 6-1 win over Wissahickon at Wissahickon High School. In the four games combined they’ve allowed three runs after shutting out Abington and Hatboro-Horsham and allowing two runs to Upper Dublin.
“We started the season at Abington, where we used five or six guys,” PW coach Chris Manero said. “We’ve kind of flipped that and sort of done the opposite. When you look at the amount of runs we’ve let up and how much our starting pitching has led it for us – that’s been the key in these first four league games for sure.”
“I think it all starts up top with our coaching and our catcher (Chase Olszyk),” PW pitcher Colin Brady said. “I think they call great games and they help keep up locked in and dialed in every game.”
“All of us are returning varsity pitchers,” Johnny Giordano added. “Having that experience, knowing what to throw, when to throw them, stuff like that (is important).”
Brady started against Wissahickon and threw six shutout innings. He struck out four batters to three walks and allowed seven hits.
“Ball speed,” the lefty credited for his successful outing. “My curveball and changeup mixing in. My fastball was a bit shaky at first. They were putting a good bat on it, but mixing it up really well had them on their front foot and got them off-balance.”
Brady got some help from his defense, which turned two double plays in the game. The first came on a grounder to second against the second batter in the bottom of the first inning and the other came on a grounder to third in the bottom of the fourth.
“Defensively we have a lot of guys out there who are not second-year varsity guys,” Manero said. “Most of our position players did not start in the positions that they’re in this year. I think we have been really pleased with how they’ve stepped up.
“I think it goes along with the pitching. Pitching and defense go together. We would like to get a little more offensive production at times, but I think until we do, if those guys defensively and on the mound can do their job, I think that’s what gives us a little bit of a boost.”
Brady also helped himself by picking a runner off first base in the top of the third.
Brady McGrain pitched the seventh inning, allowing one run on two hits while striking out one batter to no walks.
The Colonials offense got going right away in the first inning. Gabe Caucci and Giordano, the top two batters in the lineup, got on base and scored. Caucci scored on a wild pitch and Giordano crossed the plate on Brady’s groundout.
In the third inning, PW capitalized on a pair of Wissahickon errors to double the advantage. Olszyk and Sam Stolzer both grounded into errors that allowed runs to cross the plate and make it a 4-0 game.
“We’ve got take care of the baseball out there,” Wiss coach Andy Noga said. “In high school baseball you have to limit the free bases. We lost the free-base war today.”
Giordano extended the lead to 6-0 in the top of the fourth. He ripped a two-out, two-run double off the base of the right field fence.
“The two guys before me walked,” Giordano, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, said. “I wanted to let a few pitches go and see what he does. (After two strikes and two balls) I was like, ‘I’ve got to swing the bat’ and the next pitch I just sent it.”
The Trojans (2-2) got plenty of runners on base during the game, but couldn’t bring any home until the bottom of the seventh. They left 10 runners on base in the game, including six across the first three innings.
“PW played good defense,” Noga said. “Double plays were clutch and that helps Colin Brady keep his pitch count down, keep going out there. We were putting the ball in play, limited the strikeouts today, we just didn’t cash in enough with the runners on base.”
The hosts finally scored in the seventh inning when Adam Hajdak hit a double, moved to third on a Josh Palutis single and scored on a balk.
Palutis started for Wiss and allowed four runs, two earned, on two hits in three innings. He struck out three batters to two walks. Jake Fuhrmeister recorded three outs in the fourth inning, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks. Ryan Kim threw the final three innings, allowing no runs on one hit with four strikeouts to one walk.
“We’re obviously very high on (Kim),” Noga said. “We also have a lot of other pitchers. We feel good about our pitching. Ryan did a good job. All your responsibility there is keep us within striking distance and he just kept throwing up zeroes. Good job by Ry coming in in that situation.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6, Wissahickon 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 202 200 0 – 6
Wissahickon 000 000 1 -1
WP: Colin Brady 6 IP 4 K 3 BB 7 H 0 R
LP: Josh Palutis 3 IP 3 K 2 BB 2 H 4 R
2B: PW: Johnny Giordano. W: Adam Hajdak.
3B: W: Josh Palutis.
