SHENANDOAH - A Little League team can go a long way with one overpowering pitcher.
Shenandoah has one in its rotation this season. The team is now 2-0 thanks to two straight pitching wins by Anthony Merejildo.
Merejildo was dominant Wednesday in Shenandoah's 4-0 victory over Minersville in a District 24 11-12-year-old Tournament Pool 1 game.
The tall, lanky right-hander struck out 11 batters without a walk in pitching a one-hit shutout. He allowed only two base runners, the other being when he hit Minersvillle's Joe Ladick with a pitch.
Minersville only put the ball in play seven times and none of the outs left the infield.
"He's a good pitcher and there wasn't much we could do," said Minersville manager Mike Machita, whose team was playing its first game of the tournament. "He dominated. And all we had was one bad inning."
Shenandoah scored all four of its runs in the bottom of the second inning, which started when Merejildo drilled a monster home run over the center-field fence to lead off the frame.
Will Conroy then reached base on an error and advanced to third base on Pablo Lugo's double to right-center field.
Both baserunners scored when a fly ball off the bat of Chris Timko was dropped in left field for an error, giving Shenandoah a 3-0 lead.
Avery Dombrosky drove in the fourth run on a single to center field.
Shenandoah manager Bill Conroy said that Merejildo is the kind of player that can rally a team.
"His home run was the spark plug," Conroy said. "The kids get energized when they see him do things like that."
Merejildo threw just 49 pitches in Shenandoah's tournament-opening, 10-0 win over Upper Schuylkill in four innings Sunday.
Wednesday, Merejildo threw 73 pitches against Minersville. He won't be eligible to pitch when Shenandoah hosts Ashland (1-1) in a Pool 1 game Saturday.
"He needs four days' rest to pitch again," Conroy said. "He's a competitor and we're certainly glad to have him.
"He comes out every day ready to play. He knows the game inside and out. He battled today."
Except for the second inning, Minersville pitcher Cal Shoffstall threw a good game in his own right.
The right-hander struck out seven batters without a walk and retired 10 straight batters after Shenandoah scored all of its runs. He threw 65 pitches.
Josh Halye had Minersville's only hit on a two-out single in the fourth inning.
Machita said his team has time to recover from the loss since it was only their first game. Minersville returns to action Friday when it hosts Upper Dauphin County (1-0).
"We'll practice again tomorrow," Machita said. "We'll try to straighten things out and go from there."
Game Summary