Phelps Heralds in win for SJP

BRUCE McCLIMANS
Star Beacon

May 14, 2008 03:32 am

— ASHTABULA — If still waters really run deep, SS. John and Paul Heralds pitcher Jake Phelps must truly have ice water running through his veins.
Because he not only pitched the Heralds to a 10-3 Division IV sectional semifinal victory over the Bristol Panthers on Tuesday at Cederquist Park, he also led the way offensively with two home runs.
Although the victory was a total team effort, it all started with Phelps as the Heralds’ leadoff hitter. Included with the two homers was a single and two walks. He reached base all five times at bat. The junior scored three runs and collected four RBI. On the mound, the junior hurler gave up three runs and recorded 14 strikeouts.
With the victory, SJP will face Maplewood today for the Division IV championship at Cederquist Park.
Heralds coach Dave Rozzo was happy with the win, but he knows SJP’s job is far from finished.
“It was good tournament win, I guess, but we could’ve played better,” Rozzo said.
With Phelps setting the tone for the game, Rozzo had some reservations.
“Jake did a nice job for us today, but we were concerned at the end that he threw too many pitches (134), but he said he was OK, so we went with it there,” he said.
After getting a quick 1-0 first-inning lead, the Herald offense went to work in the second by sending 12 men to the plate and scoring seven runs on six hits. By being patient and drawing walks, the Heralds led 8-0. It could have been more if not for a fine shoestring catch with the bases loaded by Panther second baseman Joe Zalar that resulted in an inning-ending double play.
“Tonight, we put the bat on the ball,” Rozzo said. “We got some runs early and I told them that’s what we wanted to do. We haven’t really done that all year. We haven’t had that monstrous inning. We had a little bit of one there today, but the double play hurt us.”
Just when it seemed the Heralds (6-8, 3-4) had put the game on ice, their bats went silent. Rozzo wasn’t happy with that.
“Sometimes we get complacent. I don’t want that,”
Rozzo said. “We didn’t hustle a couple of times when we could have had doubles, especially with two outs. You’ve got to be going hard all the time and we weren’t at times.”
With Phelps (3-3) getting into the groove on the mound the middle innings flew by. He was in the midst of striking out nine of 12 Panther batters, but he was not invincible as Brett Daniels took him deep to make it 8-1 in the fourth. Bristol would add single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, while SJP would add two in the seventh.
Phelps was happy his team won, but he wasn’t especially proud of his performance on the mound, although he was happy with his stick.
“I wasn’t too consistent today,” Phelps said. “It wasn’t one of my better games pitching.”
On the contrary, Phelps was just wild enough to keep the batters off balance and his 14 K’s only proved that theory. Phelps felt the key to victory was the one big inning.
“We hit the ball today,” he said. “Instead of getting 14 strikeouts, we got 14 hits, and that made all the difference in the world.”
Panther coach Jeremy Burnett is hoping the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train, but a guiding light. He thinks his team, as young as it is, has a bright future.
“We’re young and and learning,” Burnett said. “We just have to keep our focus and keep working hard and I think this will turn around for us.”

McClimans is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.