Christopher Pitches Taconic Past Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Quentin Christopher struck out nine in a complete-game effort on the mound, and the Taconic baseball team Thursday made the most of its six hits to earn an 8-1 win over Pittsfield on Buddy Pellerin Field.
Ethan O’Donnell went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs for the Thunder, who earned a season split in the city rivalry series, avenging an 11-inning loss to the Generals in April.
This time around, Christopher was in command all day, not allowing a run until the bottom of the sixth, when Taconic already had a 6-0 lead.
“My fastball and slider [were working], and I was dialing them up outside, and then I would go inside, and they couldn’t hit it,” Christopher said.
It did not hurt that his offense spotted him a 2-0 lead on Chrsitian Aldrich’s two-run single in the top of the second.
“It made me feel more confident,” Christopher said of the early lead. “I knew my team would have my back and make the plays. And they did. So that helped me a lot.”
First-year Taconic coach Ben Stohr was pleased to see his Thunder (8-6) win for the fourth time in five games and pick up a third-straight win.
“You can’t hang banners off a regular season win, but anytime you beat the guys in purple, that’s a hell of a job,” Stohr said. “I’m really happy with how these guys fought today.
“I think it starts with Quentin. I couldn’t be more proud of that kid. We told him at the beginning of the year that he’s got the stuff where he can be one of the best pitchers around, and he showed that today. I’m just incredibly proud of how he handled himself on the mound, how he controlled the game and just attacked these guys.”
Taconic’s offense also attacked, repeatedly going after first pitches early on against Pittsfield starter and hard-luck loser Matthew Burega.
“Matt’s a really great pitcher,” Stohr said. “He’s a strike-thrower, and he likes to mix. So we told them: Just attack. He’s going to be throwing in the zone, so we’ve just got to attack. I think, early on, we were lifting a lot. And they’ve got great outfielders over there. They’re a really well coached team, talented team.
“But coming through with big hits when we needed them was big.”
Aldrich had the first big hit, dropping a single into left-center to drive in Ed Ferris, who reached on an error, and Kyle McGrath, who got on with an infield single.
It stayed 2-0 until the fifth, when an outfield error allowed Connor Paronto to score from second base.
Another Pittsfield miscue an inning later opened the door to a three-run rally and a 6-0 lead.
“[Burega] pitched very well,” Pittsfield coach Drew Pearce said. “They had, I think, three hits in a row at one point. But he had no walks. We had, I think, three errors behind him. He’s making pitches, and we need to be able to make some plays to bail him out.
“He threw a great game. Didn’t have the result we wanted. But, my goodness, he threw to contact, he was efficient as well and now walks. So that’s what you want.”
Burega allowed three runs – one earned – in five innings, striking out four hitters. Cam Hillard and Sebastian Herrera finished up on the mound for the Generals.
Pittsfield’s offense finally broke through against Christopher in the sixth.
Jack Abel worked a leadoff walk, moved to second on a pitch that got to the backstop and scored on Morrie Fried’s RBI double to make it 6-1.
But Christopher got the next three hitters in order to leave Fried on base.
The Thunder picked up a couple of insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Ethan O’Donnell to round out the scoring.
Taconic hosts West Springfield on Monday.
Pittsfield (12-3) goes to Monument Mountain on Saturday.