SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was a chilly Friday evening at Duncan Park, but right-hander Ricky Montalvo turned up the heat as the Chapman Panthers blanked the Spartanburg Vikings by a 3-0 tally.
The Panthers were staked to a 2-0 lead after three frames due to a pair of RBI singles from Walt Waddell and Jacob Murray, respectively. “That’s who we’ve got to be,” Chapman head coach Steven Fusaro said, in reference to getting contributions throughout the lineup. “Our motto is that we’ll win by any means necessary on offense. If it takes bunting them over, a single, a hit and run. It doesn’t matter if it’s young guys or veterans on the team, the motto stays the same. I’m super excited about the way that they played.” Montalvo, a junior in his first season on varsity, closed out the game by striking out four of the last six batters he faced. He struck out seven on the night, while scattering three hits (all in the first three innings) en route to the shutout. Through 10 innings pitched (two starts) on the campaign, Montalvo has tallied a whopping 17 strikeouts with just three hits allowed. “We’re super excited about Ricky,” Fusaro exclaimed. “He’s a guy that is starting to figure out how special he truly is and he’s not there yet. That’s the scary part is the ceiling for him is unbelievable. It’s just a matter of getting him to see himself like the rest of us see him. When he does, he’s going to be as good as anybody we’ve ever had and I’ll put him up against anyone in the state.” GAME TWO – Spartanburg 2, Chapman 0 In the second game of the twinbill, the host Vikings turned to southpaw Kemper Nix, who kept the Panthers off-balance through the game. Nix went the distance on the mound, picking up eight strikeouts while yielding just two hits and one walk. That enabled Spartanburg to salvage a split of the twinbill. The Vikings drove in both or their runs in the third inning, driving them in on a Will Holmes RBI single and a Elliar Sanchez sacrifice bunt. "That (game) right there was a learning experience for us," Fusaro stated. "The approach needed to be different, facing a pitcher like (Nix). We challenged them on the bus ride over here to get better every time they step on the field... We'll make sure next time in a game like this to get that third run and make sure we win it." Chapman (1-1) will open Region 3-3A play next week against the Woodruff Wolverines (location TBA). Comments are closed.
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