If any team has defined the term “hanging in there” this season, it’s the Winthrop Ramblers.
The Ramblers were dealt a major blow early in the season when ace Ian McCarthy went down with a torn rotator cuff. While they’ve tried to sort out their pitching staff, their offense hasn’t been able to pick up the slack.
“We’re not hitting the ball too well and we’re struggling in the pitching department, too,” Fortin said. “We’re asking starters to pitch complete games because we don’t really have anyone to bring in.”
Dustin Harrington and Chris McPherson went the distance earlier this week with solid efforts in back-to-back losses to Mountain Valley and Telstar by identical 3-2 scores. Minus a close call that went against Winthrop in the former game and a couple of costly errors in the latter, both pitchers might have had wins to show for their mound work, but Fortin doesn’t want his players to get discouraged with about half of the season’s schedule yet to be played.
“We’re just ending up a little bit on the wrong end of the stick,” Fortin said. “We’re struggling, but hopefully we can make the playoffs, and anything can happen there.”
Greyhounds fast out of gate
Lisbon and Hall-Dale hooked up Wednesday in a battle of perhaps the two most surprising teams in the Mountain Valley Conference.
It’s not so surprising that the two teams are contenders for the conference crown, but that both were undefeated heading into the game in Farmingdale. Hall-Dale won the game, 3-2, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the sixth on a bad-hop single.
The loss, which began a tough six-game road swing for the Greyhounds, interrupted a 7-0 start.
As a Class B school with a solid baseball tradition in a predominantly Class C league, Lisbon perennially figures to compete for conference bragging rights. But many had the Greyhounds pegged for a rebuilding year this season since only three seniors dot the roster.
So how did Lisbon get off to such a good start in what most agree is a very deep and balanced MVC?
“Quality pitching and solid defense,” coach Randy Ridley said. “We’ve gotten the outs when we’ve needed them. The errors we’ve made haven’t hurt us, and they’ve been aggressive errors. I’m not ever going to complain about errors if a kid’s being aggressive going after a ball, trying to make a play. It’s the tentative errors, when they don’t go after a ball and they make an error, that will always bother me.”
As expected, junior John Tefft and senior Josh Willey have anchored the pitching staff. Sophomore Chris Kates, who has picked up a couple of wins, and junior Tim Sautter, with two saves and a win, have emerged as solid third and fourth pitchers.
The offense hasn’t been quite as quick to develop, but Ridley knows that will come with time as his young team matures.
“The thing is, we’ve had timely hits,” he said. “That’s what we have to do. Our hitting’s going to get better. I know it’s going to take time for these kids to come around with the hitting because it’s a young group. But overall, every one of these kids is doing everything that I expected them to do.
“I just didn’t expect to start 7-0.”
Another shot
Former Lisbon Greyhound Jeremy Shorey is back in the pro ranks.
The right-hander signed a contract last March to play for the Bangor Lumberjacks, a new team in the independent Northeast League.
The 2000 Sun Journal Baseball Player of the Year joined the Lumberjacks as they began training camp last week on the University of Maine campus. Shorey, 22, is expected to make the roster and could draw the assignment to pitch opening day on Friday, May 30, according to Jeff Ramich, Shorey’s baseball coach at Lisbon and the school’s athletic director.
“We’re taking a whole caravan up there to see him,” Ramich said.
After graduating from Lisbon High School in 2000, Shorey passed up a scholarship to the University of Maine when he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 21st round. He pitched for Ogden Raptors of the rookie Pioneer League in 2001. He went 3-2 with a 5.03 ERA, striking out 30 in 40 innings working primarily out of the bullpen. The Brewers released him at the end of spring training in 2002.
rwhitehouse@sunjournal.com
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