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Dolan and Murphy’s loses on strength of longball
July 4, 2010
By BRIAN MILLER For Sun-Times Media
ELGIN — With each swing Saturday afternoon, the Bar of Appleton honored the Independence Day weekend’s Stars and Stripes fastpitch softball tournament by launching ball after ball over the Judson University outfield fence, as if prepping for a fireworks show.
No. 10 Bar of Appleton took advantage of a fly ball pitcher and smaller park dimensions, hitting four home runs in the first three innings to stake a 5-0 lead on its way to a 5-2 victory over the No. 17 Aurora Dolan & Murphy’s Shamrocks.
Appleton pitcher Andy Blackshaw, a lanky 20-year-old from Australia, picked up the win by working his way out of a couple jams with a dominating fastball and the help of two double plays.
“We needed some more runs,” Shamrocks’ coach Robin Reder said. “When he got out of the first inning (with bases loaded), that hurt because he’s a good pitcher and a lot of times, you get the good pitchers early.”
Blackshaw walked five and gave up six hits, but struck out eight over six innings.
“I need to get ahead more in the count,” Blackshaw said. “Start things up a little earlier rather than fighting from behind.”
Dolan and Murphy’s Jim Pecoraro (34) is tagged out in the front half of a double play by The Bar’s second baseman Daryn Miller in the fifth inning.(Photo by John Konstantaras/For Sun-Times Media)
All of Aurora’s outs for the inning-shortened game, sandwiched between a Chicago Bandits doubleheader, came via the strikeout or groundout.
“We did a good job of picking our pitches, being selective and waiting for pitches that were strikes,” Shamrocks’ shortstop Dave Perkins said. “But even when (Blackshaw) throws strikes, they’re still moving so much that you have to square them up. We put the ball in play, but the ones we did were ground balls.”
Shamrocks’ starting pitcher Ales Jetmar gave up two solo home runs in the second inning and a solo home run and a two-run home run in the third inning as Dolan & Murphy’s fell behind.
“(Blackshaw) is a dropball pitcher so we had a lot of groundballs,” Reder said. “Our first guy is more of a raiseball pitcher and they were hitting flyballs, and in a small park like this, they were going out.”
Dolan and Murphy third baseman Mark Kleffner (left) watches as Daryn Miller from The Bar of Appleton rounds the bases after his third inning solo home run in the Stars and Stripes Tournament. (Photo by John Konstantaras/For Sun-Times Media)
The Shamrocks, which left the bases loaded to end the first inning and stranded seven runners in total, finally broke through in the fourth on a two-run double to center by Perkins, scoring Mark Kleffner and Cooper Carson.
“I’ve been taking more pitches this year,” Perkins said. “I was just looking for a hard drop and that’s what he gave me. The timing was on.”
Appleton’s bats were kept quiet after the third inning by Shamrocks’ reliever Joe Crouch, but Blackshaw was equally impressive the rest of the way.
“He’s really worked this year on a changeup,” Perkins said about Blackshaw. “I know he got a couple guys on that.”
The two teams will battle again at 2 p.m. today in the championship game to be held at Stuart Sports Complex.
Blackshaw will likely be back on the rubber, with Dolan & Murphy’s looking to learn from yesterday’s mistakes, but the young star was not willing to concede anything.
“I’m going to go out and give 110 percent,” Blackshaw said.
When told there was no such thing, he gave a wry smile.
“One-hundred ten percent,” he added. “All I’ve got.”
Click here to view photo gallery from tournament.(Photos by John Konstantaras/For Sun-Times Media)
Editor’s note:
The article’s reference to rankings of The Bar of Appleton and Dolan & Murphy as # 10 and # 17 respectively, was as of the June 8 rankings. As of June 24, the teams are currently ranked as #9 and # 12, respectively.
Sunday:
UP NEXT
Stars and Stripes championship Bar of Appleton vs. Aurora Dolan & Murphy’s, 2 p.m. today at Stuart Sports Complex