Torroella and Rosen Lead Mount St. Joseph Over No. 25 Gilman

Less than a week before the MIAA playoffs are set to start, No. 25 Gilman visited Mount St. Joseph for a late season showdown between two of the “A” Conference’s top teams. Following an hour and a half rain delay, both teams sent their aces to the mound for this tune-up.

Gilman threatened in the first as Greyhound leadoff hitter Ryan Williamson led off the game with a double, but was back-picked three pitches later by Gaels catcher Justin Looney (Longwood). The pickoff proved to be a big play as Casey Bishop would have brought him in with his double to left field on the next pitch. Subsequently Gaels starter John Torrorela (Brown) got a pop-up and ground out the end the inning and strand Bishop at third.

Following a scoreless bottom of the first, the Greyhounds broke the tie in the top of the second with a two-out rally. After two quick strikeouts to open the frame, Gabe Gonzales reached second base on a two-base error. An RBI single by Ryan Martinez and an RBI double by Michael Mallas gave the Greyhounds the early 2-0 lead. A lead they would hold until the sixth as both starters dominated.

Gilman’s Peter Heubeck (Wake Forest) dominated hitters by working ahead in the count with his fastball and battled through adversity at times getting big outs in key situations to keep the Gaels off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Torroella turned it into another gear when he was able to start locating his off-speed and exceptional breaking ball. He got better as the game progressed and retired the next eleven batters he faced, striking out seven of them from the third inning through the sixth.

Continuing to grind at the plate, Mount St. Joseph finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. After two walks and a hit batter, Ethan Grieb knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice that cut the lead in half. Looney’s attempt to steal third forced a throwing error by Gilman resulting in the tying run crossing the plate. Following a walk with two outs and runners on first and second, Michael Rosen stepped up to the plate and launched a three-run home run over the left field fence to give the Gaels a 5-2 lead.

Torroella came back out in the seventh and retired the side in order to end the game and extend his streak of not allowing a base runner to fourteen batters in a row. He finished with twelve strikeouts, allowing the two runs (zero earned) on five hits and no walks. Heubeck went five for the Greyhounds striking out four, surrendering two runs on just two hits but walked five and hit three batters. Williamson came on in relief of Heubeck with runners on first and second and no outs in the 6th inning.