Coleman & Derks Combine For 1-Hitter For St. Andrew’s

St. Andrew’s Emery Coleman and Carter Derks combined to limit Cardinal Gibbons to just one hit in Tuesday’s 3-0 shutout.

Even before the action started, St. Andrew’s Scots Manager Joey Housey felt good about their chances. Although they were on the road and up against the defending state-champion Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs, the Scots had Emery Coleman on the mound.

The senior left-hander lived up to his legend, paving the way to a 3-0 shutout victory. Coleman threw five scoreless frames with six strikeouts, while allowing a hit and four walks.

“Whenever Emery takes the mound you feel like you’ve got a good chance to get a win. Today he threw great,” Housey said. “He has a highly reliable arsenal that he can cross-count hitters with a highly successful rate and keep from being predictable.”

The Scots (8-3) scored all their runs in the third inning to back their pitching. Aaron Tralongo and Coy Allman both walked, and Connor Berman drove Tralongo home with the winning run on an RBI single to right field. Allman scored on a passed ball, and then Cruise Cassidy walked and came in on an RBI single from Matthew Spina.

Reliever Carter Derks took over in the sixth to get the final six critical outs. The right-hander allowed just one base runner on a walk, before retiring the final five straight batters. Derks had five strikeouts.

“Derks came in and threw the ball very well to get the two-inning save. It’s tough pitching late in the game and he handles the pressure very well,” Housey said. “His above-average fastball plays and can be very tough on hitters, especially in short stints, and the slider is a very reliable pitch as well for Carter.”

Spina and Berman both went 2-for-3 to lead the offense.

“I’m proud of how they competed today,” Housey said. “Mental fortitude has been something we’re continuing to build on — wanting it tough and knowing that good teams are going to scratch and claw their way through games. There’s still a lot of growth and work to be done, but I think the ‘buy in’ is starting to get to where it needs to be to make a competitive run late in the season.”

In his second season at the helm, Housey’s Scots have already matched last season’s win total. With so much season left to play, St. Andrew’s can realistically set its sights on its highest win total in the past fourteen years, when the 2012 club finished with 11 wins.

“I think one of the best things to happen to us is taking two lopsided losses in the first three games of the season,” Housey said. “The more I’m learning about high school baseball the more I realize that more games are lost than they are won. When it comes down to playing other good teams, we have to be better at the little things that make a big difference in the game and keep our starting pitcher in the game longer.”

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