Prep Baseball Report

Section Five: McQuaid takes pair of pitching duels



Junior Erik Johnson and sophomore Hunter Walsh notched victories as the McQuaid Jesuit Knights took two (4-2/4-1) from Rush-Henrietta in non-league action.

Johnson allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over six and two-thirds innings in game one. The left-hander struck out four and walked none. He left runners on first and second with a ground ball to end a threat and stranded another runner on third in the fifth.

The state-mandated pitch count limit forced Johnson to leave the game in the seventh. Walsh came out of the bullpen and retired the only batter he faced to pick up the save.

Johnson threw 105 pitches – 67 for strikes. He started 16 of 28 batters with strikes.

The win was the second of the year for Johnson who finished 7-0 a year ago. The lefty hurled 6.2 innings and took a no-decision in McQuaid's walk-off win over St. Joe's (VI) on April 26th. He shouldered a pair of tough losses during the recent Spring Break trip when the Knights faced Florida high school powers Mont Verde Academy and Vero Beach. 

R-H junior Lucas Haefner struck out three and walked three over 6.2 innings. The right-hander allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits. He stranded a runner on third in the third with a pair of punch outs and retired six straight before McQuaid started its two-out rally in the seventh. 

Haefner threw 61 of 105 pitches for strikes and hurled first-pitch strikes to 15 of 27 hitters faced.

Walsh tossed 5.2 in the nightcap for the win.  Combining a fastball with a breaking pitch that fell off the shelf to right-hander batters, Walsh struck out four and walked two. He surrendered just four hits.

"He can throw it for a strike whenever he wants," McQuaid head coach Tony Fuller said of the breaking ball. "He can also use it as a strike-out pitch, locate it down in the zone. When that’s going which for him, he really is tough to beat."

Walsh held the Royal Comets hitless through three. Mitch Hoffower knocked a one-out double in the fourth and moved to third on a ground out. Walsh left him there with a strike out to end the inning.

Walsh threw 102 pitches – 65 for strikes, and he started nine of 24 batters with a strike.

McQuaid jumped on Hunter Barber for three runs in the first inning of the nightcap.

Barber allowed one run over his remaining four innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked four. He threw 96 pitches and 53 for strikes. The right-hander started of 14 of 26 with strikes. 

For a complete article go here.