As a freshman, Indian River pitcher Cory Showalter had only seen limited action in two relief appearances. He’d pitched 6 1/3 through eight games. But with Trevor Abbott sidelined until mid-May with a back injury, he and the rest of the pitching staff would have to pick up the slack if the Indians wanted to compete this season.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT:
Sean Lewis slides into second base against Cape Henlopen.
Sure enough, Showalter came through and won his first varsity start behind six strong innings pitched, for a 10-4 win over Cape Henlopen (5-4) to get the Indians back to the .500 mark (5-5). That upswing came after they lost and tied consecutive games in extra innings to Archmere Academy and Laurel.
Despite his age, Showalter pitched like a seasoned veteran against the Vikings. He’d only allowed three hits — including a leadoff solo homerun by John Goodwin to tie the game at one run apiece in the bottom of the second and one walk — and earned two of his four strikeouts through four innings before the Vikings were able to make any headway against him.
“He has great savvy and nothing rattles him,” Indian River head coach Howard Smack said. “And, in time, he’ll grow into that body.”
“He hasn’t had a lot of work, but he has a great selection of pitches,” Smack continued. “And if he keeps working on his mechanics and concentrates, Cory will be a blue-chipper.”
The Vikings finally started hitting Showalter in the bottom of the sixth, when they rattled off five straight hits to start the inning, driving in three runs to cut the Indians lead to 10-4. But Showalter rallied behind his defense.
Cape Henlopen’s Kyle Damico belted a two-RBI double to right field and tried to stretch it into a no-out triple, but Josh Sweetman’s lazer throw to first baseman Mike Casale ultimately connected to an awaiting Luis Barrientos as he straddled third for the 9-3-5 tag-out.
Showalter settled down, though — just as he did following Goodwin’s solo shot — to strike out the next batter and then ended the inning four pitches later on a ground ball for the 6-4 force-out at first base.
The Indian River defense played a textbook game and the offense produced more than enough to give Showalter the confidence to pitch to the best of his capabilities.
Indians catcher Bo Wilkinson warned Vikings base runners early, gunning Goodwin out at second with two outs in the bottom of the first. Centerfielder Thomas Veith started the first of two Indians outfield assists in an 8-6-3 tag-out at third in the bottom of the third.
Barrientos, Lewis and Casale turned in a 5-6-3 double-play an inning later, to clear the bases of a leadoff base runner. And all in all, the Indians’ defense accounted for 16 of their 21 outs, with only one error, committed in the first inning.
The defense “did a really good job this game,” Showalter said. “I was glad to have them behind me.”
The Vikings’ defense, on the other hand, wasn’t as successful and failed to make even routine plays. They committed five infield errors, failed to make cutoff throws at times and allowed Travalini to easily advance to second in a run-down.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT:
Out of eight state qualifiers, Mike Magaha, right, was one of three wrestlers to place in the 2007 state wrestling tournament at Sussex Central High School on Feb. 23-24.
“They executed well and we didn’t,” Vikings head coach Jimmy Young said. “We didn’t make the routine plays and that put us in a bind.”
The Indians’ bats ravaged the Vikings’ pitching for 15 hits, including 13 singles. Lewis led the team with three RBIs and put the Indians ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first on a shot up the middle to score Sweetman.
Barrientos brought home Travalini on a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield and was followed by Veith’s two-run homerun over the right field fence and a two-RBI double by Casale to give the Indians a 6-1 lead at the end of the third.
Lewis added another two RBIs on his second single of the game, with two outs, to extend the lead to 8-1 in the sixth. Lewis’s single ignited a four-run, two-out rally that gave the Indians enough of a cushion to withstand a late-game rally by Cape Henlopen.
“It makes (the game) a lot easier,” Showalter admitted of the experience of pitching with a lead. “You feel more comfortable pitching when you have the lead.”
Showalter’s performance against Cape Henlopen — in addition to Barrientos’ eight strong innings pitched in a 3-2 extra-innings loss to Archmere Academy – has only strengthened Smack’s belief in playing talented young players.
“I’ve always said that if they have the capability to play varsity then I’ll throw them in there,” he said. “I did the same thing with Cody (Jensen) and Eric Givens, Luis and Cameron Travalini.”
Showalter’s performance has earned the trust of his coaches and also his teammates. “He’s only a freshman, but we’ll take it,” Lewis said. “This was supposed to be one of his off-days. He came in as relief against Laurel and has shown up.
“They’re all stepping up and we’re going to continue to play.
“Injuries are going to happen, but that’s something that we’re prepared to live with,” Lewis added.
The Indians and Laurel were tied at nil apiece after 10 innings, and the remainder of the game will be completed before the regular season ends.
They will host Sussex Tech today at 4 p.m. to round out the month of April..