BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer
LAKEWOOD – The first time he did it, the coaching staff thought maybe it was a fluke.
Lakewood High School catcher turned starting pitcher Charlie Cunliffe put to rest any thoughts that his varsity debut two weeks ago was beginners luck with an outstanding performance last week against Lacey Township High School.
The right-hander scattered six hits and struck out two as the Piners registered a 3-2 win in a Class B South matchup last week.
“He had another great outing,” LHS assistant coach Vinnie Currao said. “He really had them off balance with a nasty curve. For not being a true pitcher, he certainly has done a great job.”
Indeed, Cunliffe was efficient, needing just 77 pitches to earn his second complete-game victory of the season. Cunliffe handcuffed Southern two weeks ago in his varsity pitching debut.
“He throws a lot of first pitch strikes,” Currao said. “He doesn’t fall behind in the count and that allows him to go to the off speed pitches. When his curve is working it makes his fastball look 10 miles per hour faster.”
LHS is now 5-5 overall and 4-4 in the division.
“We’ve beaten a couple of very good teams,” Currao said. “We’re pretty happy with the way the kids have performed. We’re a young team and still feeling our way through.”
Lakewood took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Tim Baggs reached on an infield error and then stole second. He advanced to third on a ground ball out and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Lacey ace Todd Roth, who dropped to 4-1 with the loss.
“Getting an early lead was important,” Currao said. “We needed our kids to believe that we could get to Roth. He is a very accomplished pitcher. We were looking to scratch out runs any way we could. That one run provided us with a bit of confidence and momentum.”
Lacey answered with two runs in their half of the third to forge ahead, 2-1. The Piners added single runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to win their fifth game of the season. Both runs came with two outs.
In the fourth, Mike Dennis smacked a two-out single. He stole second and later scored on Mike Dennis’ RBI single.
“The timely hits came our way in this game,” Currao said. “To come up with a pair of two-out rallies against a pitcher like Roth shows our guys were not going to quit in this one.”
With the score knotted at 2-2, LHS tallied the winning run in the sixth. Again Dennis was involved in the run production. Dennis reached on a two-out double just inside the third-base line. He scored on Joe Primmer’s game-winning RBI single to center field.
“We didn’t get a lot of hits off Roth, but we made them all count,” Currao said. “Another key for us was that defensively we were error free. We made the routine plays behind Cunliffe and that was the difference. In addition, we ran the bases well and just made some good hustle plays. The kids have been playing real hard, and it is paying off nicely.”
Lacey answered with two runs in their half of the third to forge ahead, 2-1. The Piners added single runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to win their fifth game of the season. Both runs came with two outs.
In the fourth, Mike Dennis smacked a two-out single. He stole second and later scored on Mike Dennis’ RBI single.
“The timely hits came our way in this game,” Currao said. “To come up with a pair of two-out rallies against a pitcher like Roth shows our guys were not going to quit in this one.”
With the score knotted at 2-2, LHS tallied the winning run in the sixth. Again Dennis was involved in the run production. Dennis reached on a two-out double just inside the third-base line. He scored on Joe Primmer’s game-winning RBI single to center field.
“We didn’t get a lot of hits off Roth, but we made them all count,” Currao said. “Another key for us was that defensively we were error free. We made the routine plays behind Cunliffe and that was the difference. In addition, we ran the bases well and just made some good hustle plays. The kids have been playing real hard, and it is paying off nicely.”