Former 'Squan HS Pitcher Dominates In JSBL Victory

Coming off their first win of the 2011 Jersey Shore Baseball League campaign, the Point Pirates went into Tuesday night’s game against the Wall Angels and tried to build off their momentum from their win on Sunday.

However. there is an old cliché: momentum in baseball is only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher. For Point and Wall on this particular evening, that cliché couldn’t be more right.

The Pirates were utterly dominated by former Manasquan High School and current Wall Angels hurler Alex Branch in a 12-0 six-inning mercy rule shortened contest at the Point Pleasant Borough High School field.

Branch had his way with the Point Pirates hitters all night long. The Towson-bound hurler went the distance, allowing only two hits while striking out six batters.

The righty hurler worked entirely out of the stretch position on the mound, which is usually an unconventional move for a starting pitcher. However, the adjustment paid immediate dividends for Branch.

“I’ve been working on a splitter, and I can only really grip it out of the stretch because when I’m in the windup I go straight out of the glove,” said Branch. “I saw how Ubaldo Jimenez (pitcher from the Colorado Rockies) in his no-hitter had problems throwing strikes from the windup, but was untouchable from the stretch. So I figured, if he can do that, why can’t I?"

Branch was staked to an early four-run cushion when his squad scored two runs in both the first and second innings off Point starter T.J. Gardner.

Wall’s Andrew Otteberg knocked in two runs on a single in the first, and two errors on a pickoff play, which led to two more Angels’ runs in the second.

Wall’s relentless offensive approach against Gardner forced Pirates manager Anthony DelPriore to yank the southpaw after only four innings of work.

“Tonight was a bad performance by our starting pitcher, that’s all there is to it,” said DelPriore.

“We can’t fall behind like we did tonight, especially when a few of our bats aren’t here. We’re the type of team that needs to play perfect baseball and we didn’t do that, and you can’t do that against a good team.”

The relief core for the Pirates didn’t help matters when they were called upon in the fourth inning. The Pirates bullpen allowed an additional seven runs over the next two innings, which turned the five-run edge into an unmanageable twelve-run laugher.

The Wall lineup pounded the Point pitching staff to the tune of 12 runs and 18 hits over the six innings of the mercy rule shortened affair.

Despite the big lead, Branch showed no signs of a slip up against the Pirates bats.

“You can’t necessarily change the way you pitch even with a big lead like that,” said Branch. “Because if you do that, you might be reluctant to stay focused. I just try to pretend it’s a scoreless game at all times, and that’s just the way I approach it.”

Despite the defeat, the Pirates skipper understands that there is going to be some growing pains for his young squad.

“This league is dynamite learning experience for our younger guys,” said DelPriore. “Right now, they are seeing kids who are college pitchers and some who are even throwing in the minor leagues.  They can only learn from these players. When our guys go off to college or if they’re coming back to high school next season, it should be like hitting at tee-ball.”

The Pirates feature many of the Point Pleasant players who suited up last season for both Point Borough and Point Beach. Deven DelPriore, Mike Mazza, Ryan Prout and Nick Fiore are all apart of the Pirates roster in 2011.  

The Pirates’ quest for improvement continues on Saturday in a doubleheader against the LA Dodgers at noon.