Shamrocks beat up on opponents, each other in victory
By John Sahly Staff Writer
Jason Iuli was actually happy to face his own team on Tuesday night.
The third pitcher for the Dolan and Murphy softball team took the opportunity to get some work in against a solid Shamrocks lineup while pitching for the ATMI softball team.
In pitching a complete game, Iuli took his lumps but said he pitched well in ATMI’s 7-0 loss to Dolan and Murphy, at Stuart Sports Complex to conclude the Aurora Fastpitch Softball Association’s showcase.
“I think this was a good chance for me to work on a few things before we go play a bunch of top-10 and top-15 teams,” Iuli said. “I think I pitched pretty well tonight.”
Iuli pitched for ATMI, a team largely considered to be a farm team for Dolan and Murphy, in order to keep the game competitive. That also gave Iuli an opportunity to lead a team consisting of players mostly under 21 years old against an older and more experienced team. He took full advantage of that opportunity after ATMI struck out five times in the first two innings.
“I think in the beginning, they were intimidated by Dolan and Murphy, which is understandable because most of these guys have never, ever seen pitching like that” Iuli said. “So I pulled them aside and told them that they aren’t just there to be a practice game for Dolan and Murphy. I think they started to pick it up from then.”
Iuli picked it up too, after a long first inning. After getting the first batter out, Iuli allowed a three-run home run to Jarod Gutescha. After the first, Iuli settled in and struck out six batters the rest of the way.
The right-hander said he compliments the Shamrocks other two pitchers; Juan Potolicchio and Jonas Mach, because he throws a lot of changeups compared to the hard-throwing Potolicchio and Mach.
Potolicchio threw the first three innings for the Shamrocks and Mach completed the shutout.
“Juan’s got a hard drop ball and Jonas throws such a great riseball, and then I come in and I’m more of a changeup pitcher and we all work really well together,” Iuli said. “In the past we’ve only had two starting pitchers so it’s such a luxury now to have three pitchers with three different styles.”
Dolan and Murphy manager Robin Reder agreed with Iuli’s assessment.
“I thought Iuli pitched really well tonight,” Reder said. “He’s one of our three pitchers and with the way he throws and his competitiveness, he throws very well for us.”
With the win, Dolan and Murphy improved to 21-4 this season. Dolan and Murphy 7, ATMI 0