Collins, McCarty thwart Ironmen
The Fredericton Peterbilt DQ Royals came through in the end at Royals Field Wednesday night.
John Burns drove in shortstop Steve McCarty with the only run of the ball game in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Royals beat the visiting Chatham Ironmen 1-0 to end a classic pitchers duel on Baseball Hill this night.
Lefthanded craftsman Josh Collins of the Royals and righthanded power pitcher Matt Jenkins of the Ironmen locked horns in a battle that was quick and clean. Collins subdued the Ironmen on just two hits and fanned four while Jenkins gave up only three hits and fanned six.
The duel wasn't determined until the last shot. McCarty, the fleetest man in the Fredericton lineup, led off the seventh by reaching on an error by Ironmen shortstop Derek Wilson, stole second base and scooted to third on a Jenkins wild pitch. Then, after Jenkins intentionally walked Dave Barr and Jon Pineo to load the bases, Burns lofted a fly ball over the head of Chatham center fielder Andrew Burns, playing shallow to try to cut down the run.
Presto! The Royals had their 17th win of the season against four defeats and the Ironmen were back at .500 with a 12-12 mark.
Collins lowered his earned run average from 1.77 to 1.47, improving his record to 5-1 on the season with the complete game pitching performance. Jenkins dropped to 3-4 as his earned run average dropped from 3.82 to 3.15.
"It was a good duel," said Collins who hardly broke a sweat in throwing 92 pitches this night. "Matty Jenkins threw awesome. I thought this one could go nine or 10 innings if I kept up my end of the bargain, because we weren't touching him at all."
Ditto, mind you. The Ironmen didn't get a runner as far as third base all night. Their best opportunity came in the fourth inning when Wilson worked Collins for a 10-pitch walk to lead off the inning and moved to second on a groundout to the right side by Allan Hilchie.
After Ryan Barry flew out to second, catcher John Saunders hit a flare that, had it landed, would likely have scored Wilson, who was off on contact. Instead, shortstop McCarty went to his right and dove, extending fully to snare the ball for the third out.
"Huge play," said Collins, breaking into a wide grin. "A 0-0 game, that's a sure run. He got a great read on it and made a great play."
"Jonny's a dead pull hitter anyway. He always has been," said McCarty. "I was shagging him over that way. If he would have got any more on it, I think it would have been by, but he didn't get a lot on it, and that's what allowed me to get to it."
Then, on the winning run, he was McCarty being McCarty, hustling down the first base line to beat it out after Wilson bobbled the ball at short in the seventh, making his way for second on a 1-1 pitch to steal it cleanly and then to third on the next pitch.
"He's got that element of speed, and that's always going to be weighing on the other people. They know they have to make the play that much quicker. Especially up at Royals Field, you might not get the best hop, And if that happens with Stevie, you're done," said Collins.
McCarty put in a plug for a grass infield - a movement that is quietly gaining momentum - but it was just as well last night where the Royals were concerned.
"Playing on this field is very shaky at best," he said. "As you saw with Derek, I just hit a nice little ground ball, and the ball can pop up on this infield at any given time. It would be very nice to have a grass infield here, but both teams play on it."
The stolen base was authorized by coach Steve Hicks, who has the Royals playing successful small ball this season - something that will have to continue with slugger Jody Peterson sidelined for the remainder of the regular season.
"Steve is one of a handful of guys in the league who can change the game in so many different ways, whether it's with his bat, his feet, defensively, whatever,'' said Hicks. "The way he goes on the basepaths, I don't think I've ever seen him get thrown out. With Stevie on base, you're always going to run with him when you're in a tight ball game."
Hicks said Peterson's absence doesn't change his strategy "a bit." He said team power numbers are down.
"Some of our bigger bats haven't been smacking the ball all that well, but we still have another month left and that's when it counts. I'm sure with the bats coming around and utilizing our speed, it will make a difference when it counts."
Royals host the 14-11 Saint John Alpines here Friday night, a 7:30 p.m. at Royals Field. Both teams enter the game with three game winning streaks.
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