SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — A warm, bright sun finally made it feel like spring.
A brisk, chilly wind blowing from behind home plate reminded pitchers it was still early April.
Schuylkill Haven’s Nick Behm and Nativity’s Riley White struggled with that wind throughout Thursday’s Schuylkill League Division II baseball showdown. The hitters took advantage, combining for 20 hits — eight of them doubles — and 16 runs and turning what should have been a pitchers’ duel into a slugfest.
A five-run first inning by the Hurricanes proved to be the difference as Schuylkill Haven (4-0, 1-0 D-II) remained unbeaten with a 10-6 victory over the Hilltoppers.
“I was not expecting them to be able to hit that good out of the gates. They came out right away swinging. They swung the bat really good,” said Behm, the 2014 Republican-Herald Pitcher of the Year. “I
thought I was throwing the fastball pretty good, but I was struggling to keep my curveball up. I had to go to the fastball, and I couldn’t get it by them. They were barrelling it up every time.
“It was a struggle out there today.”
The wind, which at one point knocked Behm’s hat off his head, blew straight toward the pitcher’s mound from behind home plate. The force of the wind made fastballs slower — and very hittable — and knocked down off-speed pitches.
When Behm, White and Nativity reliever Collin McGovern did get pitches over, they were hit hard. And the ones that got up in the air traveled far, often over the outfielders’ heads.
“The ball was kind of going to the right where I was trying to pitch (due to the wind),” Behm said. “My curveball couldn’t get much cross-plate action and instead had a diving action. I tried to adjust the best I could, but I was having a hard time keeping it up. When I got it up, it was right down the middle and they got good pieces of it.”
Nativity (1-1, 0-1) scored at least one run in each of its first four at-bats. Jeff Yordy paced the Hilltoppers’ 10-hit attack with a 3-for-4 performance that included a double, three runs scored and a steal of home in the first inning.
White had a pair of doubles, Marcus Renninger was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and sophomore Mike Winter knocked in a pair of runs.
Schuylkill Haven answered Nativity’s early run with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the first inning.
The first four Hurricanes reached safely without the ball leaving the infield on three singles and a walk. A run scored on a fielder’s choice, Danny Blugis scampered home on a wild pitch and Brad Fryer delivered the big blow, a booming double to the fence in center. Tyler Browne then added an RBI single to give Haven a 5-1 lead.
“Brad has done well for us,” Schuylkill Haven coach Scott Buffington said of Fryer. “Brad likes to play the game, and Brad does what Brad can do.”
Ryan Fink finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI to lead Haven’s 10-hit attack, while Blayne Moyer drove in two runs. Every Hurricane starter reached base at least once, with courtesy runner Cole Handling stealing three bases and scoring three runs.
It was the second straight time the Hurricanes scored 10 runs in a game after Wednesday’s 10-0 win over Mahanoy Area.
“We did a lot of tee work,” Fink said. “We haven’t had too many opportunities to get out and see live pitching, but as the games go on, you’re seeing more and more runs. I think we’re starting to hit our stride.
“On the basepaths, we’re real aggressive. If we get on, we’re stealing.”
Nativity sliced the deficit to 5-4 before Haven added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. No. 8 hitter Mike Ulsh had an RBI single, No. 9 hitter Browne had a key, two-strike sacrifice bunt and Noah Saul contributed a sacrifice fly.
White was removed after throwing 79 pitches in three innings and giving up seven hits and seven earned runs. The Hurricanes tallied a run in the fourth and two in the sixth off McGovern to pull away.
“You have to be able to do all the little things,” Buffington said. “The little things add up and good things usually happen. We got contributions one through nine.
“The bottom of the order, they have their responsibilities. No matter where you hit, you have to produce. Today, they did.”
Behm settled down after the fourth inning, giving up three hits and a seventh-inning run over the final three frames. He finished with eight strikeouts, including the side in the seventh.
The right-hander, who originally signed an NCAA letter of intent to play at Division I Marist, has officially committed to play at NCAA Division II Seton Hill.
“I had to go to the change-up a couple of times,” Behm said. “I went out and I had to work on my curveball. The first couple of innings I couldn’t throw it for a strike. It was in the dirt every time.
“I adjusted my curveball and I was able to get some strikeouts with it.”
Game Summary
NATIVITY (6) — Piccioni rf 4 0 0 0, DiNicola ss 4 0 0 0, Yordy cf 4 3 3 0, McGovern 1b-p 3 0 1 0, Renninger 2b 2 1 2 2, Belding lf 3 0 0 0, White p-1b 4 0 2 0, Burke cr 0 2 0 0, Winter c 2 0 1 2, Steffan cr 0 0 0 0, Hunyara 3b 3 0 1 1. Totals 29 6 10 5.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (10) — Webb cf 3 1 1 0, Saul lf 2 1 0 1, Blugis c 4 1 1 0, Fink 2b 4 1 3 1, Behm p 3 0 1 2, Handling cr 0 3 0 0, Conage 3b 0 0 0 0, Bl. Moyer dh 3 1 1 2, Fryer 1b 3 2 1 1, Ulsh ss 3 0 1 1, Browne rf 1 0 1 1. Totals 26 10 10 9.
Nativity (1-1, 0-1) 121 100 1 — 6
Haven (4-0, 1-0) 502 102 x — 10
E — Nativity 1, Schuylkill Haven 1. DP — None. LOB — Nativity 7, Schuylkill Haven 7. 2B — Yordy, Renninger, White 2, Winter, Fink 2, Fryer. SB — Yordy, Webb 2, Handling 3, Bl. Moyer. CS — McGovern, Browne. S — Browne. SF — Renninger, Winter, Saul.
Nativity IP H R ER BB K
White L,0-1 3 7 7 7 5 2
McGovern 3 3 3 3 2 3
Sch. Haven IP H R ER BB K
Behm W,2-0 7 10 6 6 2 8
HBP — by Behm (Renninger). WP — White 2, McGovern 3, Behm 2. BK — White, McGovern. T — 2:17.