NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Drury High sophomore Carson Rylander lost his no-hit bid with two out and two strikes on the board in the bottom of the seventh.
But, more importantly for him, he won the game.
Rylander struck out 12, walked four and allowed one hit in 6 and two-thirds innings to lead Drury to a 3-1 win over McCann Tech at Joe Wolfe Field on Thursday afternoon.
“It was a little tough,” Rylander said of giving up a hit to McCann Tech’s Brodie Hayden with two out and a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh. “I was just trying to throw gas. But J.J. [Prenguber] came in, got the out, and that’s all that matters.
“I’m glad he got that out. A win is a win. And I’m happy for him.”
The Blue Devils (11-4) know a lot about winning after picking up their eighth straight “W” on Thursday afternoon in a rare “road” game on State Street.
Rylander earned his first win of the season and lowered his earned run average to 5.91.
He probably would have finished what he started, too, but Robert Jutras’ decision to swap Rylander and Prenguber on the mound and at shortstop was a product of Rylander’s pitch count.
“He was at 115 [pitches] on the dot,” Jutras said. “If he was at 114, we leave him in.
“[Prenguber] showed a lot of poise. That’s huge. You’ve got to have guys like that, and we have so much confidence in J.J.”
The Hornets’ Zach Howland greeted Prenguber with an RBI double down the right field line. But the reliever got the next man to ground back to the mound to strand runners at second and third and end the game.
Drury broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth when Julian Feliciano singled to left with two out and scored on Lucas Hamilton’s RBI double.
In the fifth, the Blue Devils doubled their lead with two out when Brayden Canales scored on an error after reaching base on an error.
In the sixth, Drury pushed its lead to 3-0. Feliciano was hit by a pitch witn one out and was erased on a fielder’s choice that left Hamitlon at second base with two out.
Prenguber then doubled to left to drive in Hamilton.
Howland went the distance on the mound for McCann Tech, striking out six and allowing just one earned run.
Rylander ended up on the winning end of their pitching duel.
“What else could you ask for? Jutras said. “He had poise, he had control of the game, he was consistent, he was working ahead, he was getting the lead guy of the inning out.
“He set the tone, and I can’t say enough about what he did.”
Drury (11-4) hosts Wahconah on Saturday.
McCann Tech (9-5) is home on Monday against Lee.
