Mullet a whizz in Hilands 8-1 Sectional win over Rosecrans
By Dave Mast
May 20, 2013
558
Maybe Sheldon Mullet had a date. Maybe he wanted to get home and watch the second half of American Idol. Maybe it was the thought of diving into Joyce Hershbergers aromatic post-game pasta dinner.
Whatever the reason, when Mullet induced C.J. Williams of Zanesville Rosecrans to ground out harmlessly to third base in the Hiland Hawks 8-1 victory in their Div. IV Sectional opener at Tuscarawas Central Catholic High School on Monday, May 13, it was on his 62nd pitch of the game.
Sixty-two pitches in seven innings meant that he threw less than nine pitches per inning, a stunningly low number.
Allowing just six base runners and having trouble in just the sixth inning, Mullet was quick to deflect praise for his precise effort to his teammates.
Our defense played an amazing game, said Mullet of his performance. I dont know how many plays Brandt Miller made by himself, probably close to 10 or 12.
The reason Miller was so busy at second base was because Mullet continued to pound the outside corner, staying low and away from the Rosecrans hitters, forcing them to try to go the other way.
That eventually led to a ton of ground ball outs to the right side of the field for Mullet, who said he wasnt focusing on striking guys out as much as he was on making good pitches to get outs by letting his defense make plays.
I felt good with the fastball, said Mullet. I pretty much relied on that all night, and I figured the easiest way to get outs was to have them put it in play and let our defense do the job.
But 62 pitches? Really?
Sixty-two pitches, that is a ridiculously low number of pitches, said Hiland coach Tom Gibson, who also noted that Millers defense, especially early on, was remarkable.
I thought Sheldon did a nice job of keeping it down and locating the ball where he wanted it tonight. It was a great performance.
How incredibly efficient was the Hiland senior? Through five innings, he had retired all but one Bishops hitter on a grand total of 37 pitches.
He eventually struck out four, hit a batter, allowed just three hits and did not issue one free pass.
He got all the offensive aid he would need in the first inning.
After Kyle Troyer and Jordan Yoder struck out, Kevin Schrock drew a walk, went to second on a Brandon Wengerd single and scored on Todd Ropps RBI single. Wengerd then scored on an error, giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead.
A six-run outburst in the third sealed the win for the Hawks.
Yoder led off by lacing a triple to the gap in right-center, and trotted home on Schrocks single. Wengerd then recorded his second straight hit, and after advancing on a wild pitch, both runners scored on Ropps two-run hit.
Kendall Borntrager walked, stole second, and after Mullet walked to load the bases, Brandt Miller showed it wasnt just his glove but his bat that was capable of helping the team. Miller crushed a double to center to plate two more runs, making it 7-0. Troyer hit a sacrifice fly to score Mullet, and the Hawks were looking to end it in five innings.
Not that it mattered much to Mullet, who was having his way with the Bishops hitters.
With little to remember on the night, perhaps the memory of Rosecrans skipper Doug Geyer ushering himself out of the game will be a memory Rosecrans can take with them.
With one out and the bases loaded in the sixth, Hiland second baseman Caleb Miller took a force throw and second and, upon making the transfer to throw, dropped the ball.
The umpire quickly called the runner out, noting that Miller had dropped the ball on the transfer. Amidst plenty of complaints from the Bishops, Geyer went into a bit of a snit from his perch in the first base coaching box.
Thats enough, said the field umpire of the tirade. Thinking he had been tossed, Geyer proceeded to stomp across the field, by the pitchers mound, continuing to tell the umpire exactly what he thought of the call. At that point, the umpire officially tossed Geyer, who had erroneously thought he had been thrown out earlier.
He may have been the first baseball coach to ever throw himself out of a game.
But more importantly, the solid win begins what Gibson hopes will be another good tournament run for the Hawks.
We hit the ball hard and took advantage of their miscues, said Gibson. Im a little bothered that we kind of fell asleep after that big lead, but overall we played solid baseball. Ill take it.
Ropp recorded three hits and three RBI to lead the Hawks attack, while Wengerd added two hits, and both he and Schrock scored twice.
