Hawken came into an April 11 contest against Gilmour with hot bats. The Hawks had recorded nine or more runs in all but one contest this season so far. But Sean Pitrone had other ideas. The Lancers’ pitcher allowed just one hit and struck out seven en route to Gilmour’s 8-0 victory. Gilmour impr oves to 6-0 on the season, while Hawken falls to 5-1. Pitrone worked through the Hawks’ order the first time with just three baserunners, one on an error and two walks. Coach John Murphy has been impressed with the junior, as he chalked up his third win of the season. “Sean’s done it all for us this season,” Murphy said. “He’s not allowed more than three or four hits in a game. He’s just a solid player. He’s a kid that’s going to make some noise this year and next. When you get a guy throwing like that, it makes it a lot easier for the defense. Towards the end he was getting a little tired, and we were thinking of switching. But he told our pitching coach that he wanted to finish it, so we kept him in there.” The second inning is when Gilmour got the scoring started, as Joey Salerno and Tyler Pozsgai reached on singles and Tyler Hall was walked to load the bases. A walk of CJ Santagata brought across the first run of the contest. Then Brady Olsen sent one to right that just kept rolling to the wall. The senior cleared the bases and reached third safely for a triple. “Our intensity at practice has really helped a lot,” Olsen said. “It’s really translated to the in-game situations for us. A big shout out to Tyler for getting on in the third and really starting that rally for us.” A single from Pitrone drove in Olsen. The Lancers added to the lead in the fourth as Zac Titas hit a sacrifice fly. Seven of the Gilmour bats recorded hits in the contest, Pitrone with a pair of hits. He has had two or more hits in every contest this season so far. “I think practicing the triangle drill really helps a lot,” Pitrone said. “There were a lot of popups today, whether it was foul or in play. We did a really good job. This is one of the best hitting groups that we’ve had in my time, and there’s a lot of practice that we put in to have results like that.” Going into the season, Murphy liked the team from the defensive and pitching aspects but wanted the hitting to progress. But he knew it couldn’t be rushed. He knew the top of the lineup could produce, but the bottom half had some new names to the varsity side. But the undefeated start to the season has been a major help to both his and the team’s confidence. “We really have improved a lot in our hitting compared to years past,” Murphy said. “But were getting a lot of timely base hits. The kids have got older, and they’re more mature. We have a lineup that one through nine can hit, and it takes it easy on everyone from the staff to the players.” While Hawken has lit up the scoreboard this season, sometimes a setback like the one the Hawks had can help the team. That’s the mindset Coach Aaron Brandt is using for the contest. The Hawks had a large number of their arms pitch in the last two contests, marathon contests with Chagrin Falls. In the contests, a combined six arms went for Hawken. Brandt knew this was also going to be a playoff atmosphere game for his team early in the season and help the team adjust. “We’ve had a great approach at the plate all year,” Brandt said. “Today, it just wasn’t there. Give a lot of credit to Gilmour’s pitcher. He did a great job attacking the zone. Sometimes things like that happen, and our batters just didn’t make the adjustments.” Hawken will return to CVC play with Perry on April 14. Gilmour also returns to the diamond the same day with Hudson WRA heading to Figgie Field. THE SCORE Gilmour 8, Hawken 0 ...read more read less