Warriors Drop Chicago State
Copyright The Trib
By JIM
BROWITT and MATT BREACH
of the Tribune
Warrior coaches were particularly interested
in seeing what Jared Joaquin had to offer.
The junior right-hander, still working back
into pitching shape after being sidelined by
a tender elbow through the season's first
two weeks, was given his second start. And
what he showed over a 35-pitch appearance
was generally encouraging.
Then Jason Garcia captured everyone's
attention. The senior right-hander finished
the afternoon for L-C, allowing one run
while striking out eight over an impressive
seven-inning stretch. "You've just got to be
ready when they hand you the ball," said
Garcia, who took it at the beginning of the
third and proceeded to give up only five
hits, none of which were especially well
struck. "My cut fastball was pretty
effective; when I threw it to the outside
(of the plate) it didn't seem like they
could do anything with it."
While an infield hit and two looped
singles in the eighth led to the first run
Garcia has yielded this year, the
21-year-old from Renton breezed to his
second victory in as many outings.
"It makes you think when someone comes in
and throws like that; we're still trying to
figure out how we're going to use guys,"
said L-C coach Ed Cheff, whose team is now
11-2. "When (Garcia) pitches down and throws
strikes, he's pretty good. He was real good
today."
Despite Garcia's efficiency -- his outing
was marked 74 pitches, one walk and only two
occasions when consecutive batters reached
base -- he and Joaquin (one run, three hits,
one strikeout) clearly benefited from L-C's
fielding prowess. The Warriors turned four
double plays, all of the conventional kind
and two of which went around the horn.
Offensively, the Warriors were fairly
methodical. They had 12 hits but no more
than three in any inning. And their only
scoring outburst was a two-run third
instigated by errors from shortstop Luke
Grow on successive grounders.
Mark Thompson and Allen Balmer had three
hits apiece, while Thompson and Nick Currin
each picked up two RBI -- Currin's both by
way of sacrifice flies.
Starter Jonathan Kohn (0-2) lasted seven
innings for Chicago State (1-3). |
