Finfrock’s Stellar Pitching Guides Martin County To Win

Year after year, the best teams in any level of baseball are the ones who have a reliable pitching staff that can step up at any time. Luckily for Martin County manager Jerry Smith, his pitching staff is one that perfectly understands that mantra. After losing starter Jett Walsh after one inning, sophomore Kade Finfrock stepped up and pitched five fantastic innings as the Tigers upended the Fort Pierce Central Cobras by a 5-2 final score.

Finfrock, a 5’8″ sophomore, threw 71 percent of his 83 pitches for strikes and struck out four while only walking one. Cobras hitters were frustrated as soon as they stepped into the box, as Finfrock recorded first-pitch strikes against 14 of the 21 men that faced off against him. Chris DeMayo pitched a scoreless seventh inning to lock down the save and a Tigers victory.

Leading the way on offense for the Tigers was Owen Von Esslinger, who had two hits — including an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning — and Case Howell, whose two-run single in the top of the second inning gave his team a lead they’d never give up. Martin County added another two runs in the second inning thanks to consecutive RBI doubles from Matt DiNenna and Justin Bryan, but was then held scoreless until the seventh inning.

Starting for the Cobras and pitching a complete-game loss was Michael O’Brien, who struck out six and threw 65 percent of his 86 pitches for strikes. Fort Pierce Central got its two runs courtesy of a two-run error during Max Rymer’s at-bat in the bottom of the third inning.

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