Lima Central Catholic’s Matthew Quatman slides into home plate to score against Wapakoneta’s Drew Bailey during Thursday’s game at Wapakoneta High School.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA — LCC coach John Schnieders handed the ball to freshman Brady Parker for his first career start on Thursday night, and nothing the young righthander did on the mound resembled his level of varsity experience.
Parker worked the strike zone effectively and trusted his defense against a Wapakoneta lineup that includes two future Division I College baseball players, looking much more like an ace than a first-time starter in LCC’s 6-3 win over the Redksins.
LCC put two runs on the board in the first inning and Parker returned the favor to his lineup by holding Wapakoneta hitless through the first five innings. With his freshman pitcher still building up arm strength from a late start to the season, Schnieders pulled Parker in favor of Brady Malcom with two runners on in the sixth.
After both inherited runners scored on a single from Ryan Price and a bases-loaded walk to Mason Ludwig, Malcom battled out of trouble in the sixth and survived a long seventh inning to pick up a five-out save.
Parker was credited with the win in his debut as a starting pitcher after throwing 5.1 innings and limiting the Redskins to two earned runs on two hits.
“We had him limited tonight on a pitch count, but he got rolling,” Schnieders said of Parker. “He got some quick outs and we played defense behind him which is something we’ve been struggling with. Putting up some runs early for him so he could relax a little bit was also key, especially when he knew what kind of team he was up against.”
Parker surrendered his first hit of the game to Zac Niekamp in the top of the sixth inning. He held Grant Jolly, a North Carolina State commit, without a hit in three plate appearances and limited Taylor Echols, a Miami University commit, to 0 for 2 at the plate with a walk.
LCC’s two first-inning runs came on an error and an RBI groundout from Billy Bourk. Bourk singled in the T-Birds’ third run in the third inning with two outs, then doubled home Matthew Quatman in the fifth inning to make it 4-1.
Quatman went 3 for 4 with two runs scored out of the leadoff spot and Michael Quatman scored twice out of the two-hole. Bourk went 2 for 4 on the evening with three RBI and a run scored.
“Our lineup is set up for those guys to deliver in key situations and that’s exactly what they did tonight. We’re a young team, but our older guys have a lot of experience so we’re kind of built to have those young guys do the right things around the veterans. That’s the recipe for success for us. ”
Drew Bailey took the loss for the Redskins after allowing one earned run on four hits in four innings.
Wapakoneta committed three errors on the night, accounting for four unearned runs.
Box score (r-h-e)
LCC 2010201 6-9-2
Wapakoneta 0001020 3-2-3
LCC 6 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Matthew Quatman 4-2-3-0, Michael Quatman 3-2-0-0, Carson Parker 3-1-0-0, Billy Bourk 4-1-2-3, Jake Nieman 4-0-1-1, J.J. Schnieders 3-0-2-0, Brayden Dahill 4-0-1-0, Brady Malcom 3-0-0-0, Brady Parker 3-0-0-0, Totals: 31-6-9-4
Wapakoneta 3 (ab-r-h-rbi)
Taylor Echols 2-0-0-0, Zac Niekamp 4-1-1-0, Grant Jolly 4-1-0-0, Ryan Price 4-1-1-1, Drew Bailey 1-0-0-0, Kaden Moore 2-0-0-0, Griffin Mericle 2-0-0-0, Mason Ludwig 1-0-0-1, Jarrett Mullen 2-0-0-0, Alex Lewis 1-0-0-0, Totals: 23-3-2-3.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so)
Brady Parker (W) 5.1-2-3-2-3-3
Drew Bailey (L) 4.o-4-3-1-1-5
Brady Malcom (SV) 1.2-0-0-0-3-2
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468
