INMAN, S.C. – Runs were tough to come by during the Region III-3A showdown between the Union County Yellow Jackets and Chapman Panthers on Tuesday evening.
It was a battle of wills as Chapman’s Ricky Montalvo and Union County’s Connor Goings faced off in an old fashioned pitcher’s duel. Late in the game, Chapman scratched across a run and emerged with a 1-0 victory over Union County. In the sixth inning, Chapman’s Walt Waddell drew a leadoff walk on four pitches, and then Landon Solesbee was summoned off the bench to pinch run. Ricky Montalvo put down a sacrifice bunt, moving Solesbee over to second. With two out, Solesbee took off in an attempt to swipe third base as part of a double steal. The throw down to third sailed high, allowing Solesbee to touch home plate and give Chapman a 1-0 lead. “Landon just got released (to play) yesterday,” Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro said. “He’s a guy that plays the game at a high level. We have missed him all year. We knew that he would give us the same thing that Walt could on the bases. We subbed for Walt so he could get loose (to pitch) for the seventh inning if needed. After the timeout, we gave (Solesbee) the green light. He saw something he liked and made it happen. There’s a bunch of guys on this team that can play and we’re truly blessed to be part of it.” “I like running the bases,” Solesbee stated. “It’s my favorite part of the game because there’s a lot of action involved. I’m glad that Coach Fusaro had confidence in me as a pinch runner. While being out injured, I've helped keep the pitching chart. It helped me stay focused, not only for myself, but for my teammates as well.” On the mound, Montalvo found a groove and was locked in. The junior right-hander went the distance, tossing seven shutout innings, scattering six hits while striking out 10. “I wanted this win tonight really bad,” Montalvo remarked. “What I was able to do tonight, that comes from Coach Settle. We were able to establish in some areas of the strike zone and my curveball really helped me a lot. I feel like we have a great pitching staff. If I don’t have my best outing, we have other pitchers that can back me up like Jacob Cogdell and everyone else.” Fusaro also pointed to something that he believes has helped the team refocus. “We had to take a real hard look at ourselves in the mirror after playing them the first time (in the Sanders Tournament),” Fusaro recalled. “We refocused ourselves at practice and have pinpointed some things. On Easter, I was sitting in church. During that whole weekend, I was trying to figure out what this team is missing. I was sitting there and the first song came on, talking about how love conquers all. I realized that these dudes need to know we (the coaches) love them.” “The other thing in the song was that it said that Jesus made everything better. We needed to refocus ourselves around a couple of those things, too. We had to make sure these guys understood why we play the game. It was a lot of fun seeing them play the game in a way to glorify God, but also in an unselfish and loving way. It was fun to see them love each other tonight.” Chapman (9-6, 3-0 Region III-3A) will make the trip over to the Timken Sports Complex to face the Yellow Jackets (2-2 Region III-3A) on Friday evening. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 PM. -Justin Mathis Comments are closed.
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