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East Lansing — Strikeouts had not been much of an issue for Royal Oak Shrine’s baseball team this spring en route to its first state semifinal appearance since 2003.
But punchouts certainly were a problem for Shrine on Friday, which spoke entirely to just how good the opposing pitcher was.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart junior ace Nate Siler was in complete command the entire game, striking out 16 Shrine batters and tossing a three-hit shutout to lead Sacred Heart to a 4-0 triumph over Shrine in a Division 4 state semifinal at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
Shrine finished a terrific season 26-9, but couldn’t do anything more than tip its collective cap to Siler.
“It was definitely the (velocity) and the mixture with a curveball,” Shrine senior Sean Murphy said. “He paired it well. We hadn’t seen a lot of veto like that.”
Shrine didn’t have a serious threat until the bottom of the seventh inning, when it loaded the bases with one out following a hit, walk and hit by pitch.
But Siler quickly dissolved the threat, ending the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
“He controlled the game from beginning to end,” Shrine head coach Dan Noble said. “He was never really frazzled. We have cut down on our strikeouts significantly this year from last year, but you’ve got to give him all the credit. He’s the difference the game. He just controls everything that he throws. He’s got a plus fastball and he throws it with a four-seam and a two-seam action. Nothing looks the same, yet he ends up hitting the same spot.”
Sacred Heart got Siler all the runs he needed in the top of the first, going up 2-0 following an RBI single by senior Brady Davis and an RBI double with two outs by junior Hank MacDonald.
Sacred Heart (37-4) then got some insurance in the fifth when Siler and MacDonald hit back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs to make it 4-0.
Freshman Luke Robinson provided two of Shrine’s three hits in what still was a renaissance season for the program despite the loss.
“I’m real proud of these guys for finding a way to push through that little barrier that we had in the regional finals and quarterfinals,” Noble said. “We’ve gone to the quarterfinals a couple of times and were able to push through that and play a couple of really good games last weekend. These group of seniors, they’ve done a real good job.”
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Sacred Heart ace Nate Siler stymies Royal Oak Shrine baseball in semis
Continue reading...
But punchouts certainly were a problem for Shrine on Friday, which spoke entirely to just how good the opposing pitcher was.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart junior ace Nate Siler was in complete command the entire game, striking out 16 Shrine batters and tossing a three-hit shutout to lead Sacred Heart to a 4-0 triumph over Shrine in a Division 4 state semifinal at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
Shrine finished a terrific season 26-9, but couldn’t do anything more than tip its collective cap to Siler.
“It was definitely the (velocity) and the mixture with a curveball,” Shrine senior Sean Murphy said. “He paired it well. We hadn’t seen a lot of veto like that.”
Shrine didn’t have a serious threat until the bottom of the seventh inning, when it loaded the bases with one out following a hit, walk and hit by pitch.
But Siler quickly dissolved the threat, ending the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
“He controlled the game from beginning to end,” Shrine head coach Dan Noble said. “He was never really frazzled. We have cut down on our strikeouts significantly this year from last year, but you’ve got to give him all the credit. He’s the difference the game. He just controls everything that he throws. He’s got a plus fastball and he throws it with a four-seam and a two-seam action. Nothing looks the same, yet he ends up hitting the same spot.”
Sacred Heart got Siler all the runs he needed in the top of the first, going up 2-0 following an RBI single by senior Brady Davis and an RBI double with two outs by junior Hank MacDonald.
Sacred Heart (37-4) then got some insurance in the fifth when Siler and MacDonald hit back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs to make it 4-0.
Freshman Luke Robinson provided two of Shrine’s three hits in what still was a renaissance season for the program despite the loss.
“I’m real proud of these guys for finding a way to push through that little barrier that we had in the regional finals and quarterfinals,” Noble said. “We’ve gone to the quarterfinals a couple of times and were able to push through that and play a couple of really good games last weekend. These group of seniors, they’ve done a real good job.”
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Sacred Heart ace Nate Siler stymies Royal Oak Shrine baseball in semis
Continue reading...
