Concord High School senior right-hander Kyle Konarski, as they say in baseball, pounded the strike zone Wednesday.
Konarski hurled a masterful four-hitter, striking out 12 and walking two, as the Minutemen blanked the Goshen Redskins 3-0 in a Northern Lakes Conference game at CHS in Dunlap.
Goshen senior right-hander Ethan Hussey also pitched a dandy game, yielding five hits while striking out five and walking two.
Concord coach Mike Jackowiak said, “That was Kyle’s best performance of the season. He was getting ahead of hitters, showed his poise and executed his pitching plan.
“At the plate, we were able to execute just enough to get it done. The lower part of the order helped us out. The bottom line is you just need one more run than the opponent and our kids have bought into that idea.
“Hussey was the best pitcher we have seen so far this season. He throws fairly hard and was throwing strikes in this game.”
Redskin coach Hal Farmwald was glad to see his club pitch it and field it better than during Tuesday’s 17-6 loss at home to Plymouth, but there is no way to win without scoring.
“First of all, I want to say Kyle Konarski pitched one heck of a game. He was pounding the outside corner and keeping the ball down.
“Ethan Hussey was outstanding for us. They got an unearned run in the third inning, but he battled to keep us in the game and carried us on his shoulders. That is typical of Ethan.
“We continue to struggle getting clutch hits with runners on base and, in this game, we simply didn’t put the ball in play enough with all the strikeouts.
“We need a couple good practices but, once the conference season starts, there is not a lot of time for that.
“I was satisfied with the effort in this game. The kids battled until the end. But, still, we get our first two runners on in the seventh inning and can’t move them because of three strikeouts.”
Concord broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third as junior Garrett Frey reached on an error, stole second and scored when sophomore Logan Draus punched a single to right field.
Junior Jordan Haitsma walked in the bottom of the fifth, was sacrificed to second by senior Nick Cocanower, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Frey to right field.
The Minutemen added an inurance tally after two outs in the sixth. Junior Kyle Gavin singled, raced to third on a single by Konarski and scored on a wild pitch.
Senior Brett Hunter of the Redskins doubled in the fourth inning and singled in the sixth. Sophomore Troy Pickard and junior Taylor Short started the seventh with singles, but were stranded.
Hussey helped his own cause defensively in the second by making a nice catch of a bunt and doubling a Concord runner off first base. Junior catcher Carl Kay threw out a would-be base stealer in the fifth inning.
Concord catcher Cocanower threw out a Redskin runner in the fourth to complete a double play with a strikeout. First baseman Gavin made a nice diving catch on a line drive by Pickard in the fifth.
Goshen, 7-8 overall and 1-4 in the NLC, hosts Wawasee on Friday. Concord, 10-3 and 4-1, travels to Warsaw.
Sports
Concord's pitching, hitting too much for Goshen
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