Saturday, February 13, 1999
St. Mary’s pitching
By Al Chase
silences Rainbows
Star-BulletinAn old-fashioned pitchers' duel materialized at Rainbow Stadium last night with St. Mary's right-hander Jason Morgan-Voyce besting Hawaii left-hander Jamie Aloy.
Gaels' first baseman Travis Kermode provided the two key hits St. Mary's needed and Morgan-Voyce kept the Rainbows from getting timely hits.
The 2-1 victory was the first for St. Mary's and first-year head baseball coach John Baptista after five losses to start the season.
It was the first complete game pitched against the Rainbows (8-2) this season and, oddly enough, it came in the first game aluminum bats were used at Rainbow Stadium.
The distinctive ping of horsehide meeting metal was heard, but it did not translate into an avalanche of hits and runs. Effective pitching saw to that.
Morgan-Voyce induced Rainbow batters to ground into 18 outs and Aloy recorded 13 ground-ball outs. But, Aloy had little luck in dealing with Kermode and that proved to be the difference.
With two outs in the first inning, the 6-foot, 210-pounder picked on an inside fastball and guided it down the left-field line for a double that scored Michael Waugh from first base.
Then, in the eighth, Kermode doubled off the left-center field wall to score Tom Nichols from first base, breaking a 1-1 tie.
"The guy (Kermode) hit everything we threw at him. He even hit Jamie's knuckle ball and no one hits Jamie's knuckle ball. And, he hit it square," Hawaii catcher Lars Hansen said. "He just crushed the change-up. It was his night."
It was a change-up, higher in the strike zone than Aloy intended, that Kermode, 2-for-19 entering the game, rocketed off the GTE sign in left to drive in the game-winning run.
The Rainbows had their opportunities to produce but squandered each one. They left runners in scoring position in the first (second base, two outs), fifth (second base, one out and third base, two outs), seventh (second base, one out) and eighth (second base, one out) innings.
"We had chances to score, but didn't," UH head coach Les Murakami said. "It will probably take time to get used to the aluminum bat, but that's no excuse. You can't take anything away from their pitcher. "
It was Morgan-Voyce's game to win or lose as the St. Mary's bullpen was empty until a couple of players played long toss in the ninth.
"His forte is mixing it up and throwing quality strikes on the corner, not down the middle," Baptista said.
"When I'm on top of my game, I just hit the spots and keep people off balance," Morgan-Voyce said. "My change-up is my best pitch. I throw the curve for strikes and spot the fastball."
Morgan-Voyce's change-up was the pitch the baffled the UH hitters the most. He threw it on any count, in any situation.
Only once did Morgan-Voyce go to a full count on a batter. He finished the complete-game effort by retiring the 'Bows in order in the ninth on eight pitches. He threw 97 in the game.
Michael Dartt returned to second base after missing two games with stress fractures in both legs. He was 2-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt and scored the UH run.
Gaels 2, Rainbows 1
St. Mary's HawaiiE--R. Nichols (2), Wayne (6). DP--StM 2 (Wayne-R. Nichols-Kermode, R. Nichols-Wayne-Kermode). LOB--StM 9, UH 6.ab r h bi ab r h bi Donohue cf 5 0 1 0 Takamori rf 4 0 1 0 N. Waugh c 5 1 1 0 Dartt 2b 3 1 2 0 T. Nichols lf 4 1 1 0 Wakakuwa 1b 4 0 1 0 Kermode 1b 4 0 3 2 Aloy p-dh 4 0 0 0 J. Waugh rf 4 0 1 0 Martines lf 4 0 2 0 Cohan 3b 4 0 0 0 Wheeler 3b 4 0 1 0 R. Nichols 2b 3 0 1 0 Hansen c 3 0 0 0 Wayne ss 4 0 1 0 Baker cf 3 0 1 0 Graziani dh 3 0 0 0 Miller ss 3 0 0 0 Summerville pr 0 0 0 0 Totals 36 2 9 2 Totals 32 1 8 0 St. Mary’s 100 000 010--2 Hawaii 000 100 000--1
2B--Kermode 2 (3), Waugh (3), Baker (1). SH--Dartt (3), Hansen (1).
IP H R ER BB SO Morgan-Voyce (W,1-2) 9 8 1 1 0 4 Aloy (L, 2-2) 8 8 2 2 1 5 Jones 2/3 1 0 0 1 1 Snider 1/3 1 0 0 0 0Umpires--LeBeau (plate), Ogawa (first), Montalbo (third). T--2:23. A--1,224 (turnstile), 2,263 (tickets issued).
