Friel leads Cadets to victory

Updated: May 2, 2011 8:56PM

Throwing strikes is advantageous, but throwing four different pitches for strikes is remarkable.

Marmion’s Tyler Friel mixed all his pitches better than a blender and kept the St. Francis Spartans guessing in a 7-1 Suburban Christian Conference victory for the Cadets Monday at Joe Nardone Field.

Friel allowed a mere three hits in the complete-game effort that lasted one hour, 38 minutes. He fanned five, walked four and was aided by a pair of inning-ending double plays.

“It was definitely one of my better outings,” said Friel, who improved to 3-2. “Everything just seemed to be working today. I’ve been working on all of (my pitches), and they’ve been working lately.”

Marmion improved to 12-5 overall and 8-2 in league play while the Spartans slipped to 15-6 and 7-3. The Cadets scored two runs in the first inning, and Friel kept his team in front.

Andy Young reached on an error and scored on a triple by Kyle Kozak. Kozak scored on ground ball by Tim Tarter.

Mike Pipp led off the bottom of the second inning with a double to the left-center gap. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Meyer (two hits, two RBI) and scored on a single by Mitch Sterne.

Friel faced the minimum number of batters in the second, third and fourth innings. Lonnie Hicks singled with one out in the second but was quickly erased on a 6-4-3 double play. Young flipped a grounder to second baseman Sterne, who turned and threw to Tarter.

Eric Stout was credited with a hit after Friel fielded a hot grounder in the third inning. The ball stuck in his mitt and Friel lobbed his mitt with the ball in it to Tarter ahead of Stout, but the umpires ruled Stout safe. Stout was caught stealing moments later, and K.C. Zimmerman flew to center field to end the inning.

Friel worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning before surrendering a run in the fifth. Colin Wons drew a leadoff walk and went to third on a double by Hicks. Friel was called for a balk that allowed Wons to score, but the Spartans failed to execute a suicide squeeze that resulted in a double play.

Friel finished with some muscle, striking out the first two batters in the seventh inning and inducing a popout to end the game. The Cadets added a run in the fifth inning and three tallies in the sixth to account for the final score.

“Tyler is definitely the MVP for us today,” said Marmion coach Dave Rakow. “He gets stronger as the game goes on I think. The seventh was probably his best pitched inning.

“He was great tonight. Hopefully he gets stronger as the season goes and we can get him in the playoffs like that.”

Meyer opened the fifth inning with a single up the middle and scored on a two-out line drive to left field by Kozak. Meyer, hitting in the ninth spot, also delivered a two-run double in the sixth inning. A.J. Friedman led off with a single to center and Travis Siwiec took a walk before Friel knocked in a run with base hit to left. Pipp advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt and Meyer drove a pitch to the fence.

“Everyone contributes and we all can hit,” Meyer said. “The whole top of the order is good, but there is nothing weak at the bottom.”

Much like Friel’s pitches — all four of them.

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