Silber delivers Lawrenceville past Hill School
POTTSTOWN >> He’s not the kind of pitcher you want to give any sort of advantage to.
So when The Hill School let two runs cross in the top of the first inning, the Blues knew they had their own hill to climb against Lawrenceville’s Nick Silber on the mound.
“Coming in, we knew we were up for a tall task going up against him,” said Hill School head coach Chris Drowne of Silber. “He’s really effective. He locates his fast ball really well and keeps hitters off-balance with a two-strike count.”
In the end, Silber went the distance on the mound, limiting the Blues to just three hits and striking out 13 as Lawrenceville defeated The Hill School, 4-1 on Saturday afternoon in the schools’ rivalry game.
“It’s definitely a lot easier to have a two-run lead before even throwing a pitch, so I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our hitters,” said Silber, a Rice commit who has gotten plenty of attention from the MLB. “That definitely gives me a lot of comfort going out to the mound. I knew I could trust my stuff and trust our guys to make the plays behind me.
“I was mixing my pitches up well out there,” he added. “I was spotting my curve ball early on in the count and trying to keep them guessing. Once I had my curve working, I was able to work some fastballs in and out.”
Silber struck out the side twice on the day, including a 12-pitch bottom of the second inning and a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to close it. The senior gave up his first hit of the day to Jack Baughman in the bottom of the third inning. The Lawrenceville defense didn’t let it last as the Big Red turned a double play on a hard grounder to second.
The win gives The Big Red (3-3 Mid-Atlantic Prep League, 4-7 overall) their first win-streak of the season after they defeated Blair Academy on Wednesday, 7-1.
Catcher Mike O’Hare was 1-for-4 with an RBI while Chris Ryan was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Shortstop Joe Kalosky was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
“We’ve got some really tough kids on this team,” said Lawrenceville head coach Ron Kane. “They haven’t let some tough breaks and some tough losses get them down this season. That’s what it’s all about.”
The result drops the Blues to 2-5 in MAPL play, 2-7 overall.
Hill School starter Jeff Armstrong was strong on the mound, yielding four runs (two earned) on eight hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. Though he was effective on the afternoon, he was done in by Lawrenceville’s two-run first inning.
“Jeff threw really well for us,” said Drowne. “After the second inning, he was able to settle down and locate. That’s why they (Lawrenceville) weren’t able to put the ball in play as hard.”
Catcher Danny Monzo had The Hill’s lone RBI, ripping a double down the right-field line in the bottom of the sixth to score Baughman. Greg Speroni got on base twice with a single and a hit-by-pitch.
Holding a one-run lead going into the final inning, Lawrenceville added some insurance to put it away.
Ryan knocked a one-out single to left field and quickly came around to score on Sam Waugh’s single to right after a throwing error to third base to make it 3-1. On the next at-bat, Waugh crossed home from third base off shortstop Kalosky’s single back up the middle.
That proved more than enough to hold off the Blues.
“We’ve got to be able to get on the pitcher early on in our first and second at-bats,” said Drowne, “especially a guy like him (Silber). You can’t let a good pitcher get comfortable out there.”
Unfortunately for The Hill, Silber was in his zone the entire way.
