Stay Connected with YourSeason
Marian ace shuts down Pioneers; 59ers roll to win
| Joe Raymond~for Sun Times Media/
Updated: June 4, 2011 9:01PM
PLYMOUTH — Clark had to be nearly perfect to just have a chance to beat Mishawaka Marian.
Saturday, the Pioneers weren’t even close to that in a 10-0 six-inning loss to the Knights in the first round of the Plymouth Regional. Andrean defeated West Lafayette 14-3 in the second game, setting up a rematch of the 2008 regional semifinal with the Knights, the last team to beat the 59ers in the state tournament.
Clark had two big problems working against it.
The pitching of John Leszczysnki and the Pioneers’ inability to string together a couple of hits.
A third subplot for them was that Enrique Zamora didn’t have his best outing on the mound.
Chris Parker had the big blow for Marian, cranking out a three-run homer to right field in the first inning. It came after Zamora walked the No.2 and 3 batters for Marian.
“They hit every one of our mistakes starting from the first inning,” Clark coach Chris Moore said. “That set the tone for them and put us in a hole.”
Combine the so-so pitching with the stellar work of Leszczysnki, a crafty left-hander who pitched a perfect game against Rochester on Monday in the sectional championship and the results are predictably not good for Clark. Leszczysnki, who gave up just four hits in five innings, has now pitched 20 scoreless innings of postseason baseball.
The closest Clark came to scoring was in the second when Zamora singled with one out and Jerald Morgan followed with a walk. After Adam Crnkovic flied out to left, Christian Quiroz loaded the bases when a pitch hit him.
Leadoff batter Alex Evanich popped up to second to end the potential threat.
“We were putting the ball in play,” Moore said. “We just never got that big to move the guys over. He really kept us off balance.”
In the second game, the 59ers got a pair of three-run homers from Jeremy Wright, their second baseman, to lead them to the victory.
Wright’s second one came in the fifth inning and it basically put the game out of reach for West Lafayette.
The 59ers started the inning up 6-3 but they scored eight times.
The blows by Wright — the second one hit a light pole — were both to right field where the wind was blowing out hard.
Wright is just another one of the cogs on the 59ers machine. He replaced Mark Pishkur, Dave Pishkur’s son, in the infield after Mark injured his shoulder about a month ago. He batted in the eighth spot. Pishkur said he has been stellar since getting a spot in the lineup.
“Those might be the first two home runs of his career,” Dave Pishkur said of Wright. “I know they are the first two that he has hit this year.”
Andrean looked like it was going to blow out Lafayette early, getting six in the first with the help of Wright’s first bomb.
Lafayette settled down and eventually cut the lead in half after scoring three in the second.
After that shaky first, Nick Moody, Lafayette’s pitcher, settled down, holding Andrean scoreless until he was pulled in the fifth for Brian Ghiselli. Ghiselli gave up all eight runs in the last inning.
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment