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Pitcher Taylor Tennant quits Patriots in shutout victory

By Staff | Apr 27, 2018

Is pitching at least 75 percent of baseball? Or is it even more important, at 90 percent, as some Major League executives believe?

Jefferson’s Taylor Tennant showed once more that dominating pitching can outrank or trump anything else that transpires in a baseball game.

Tennant allowed only five singles to senior-laden Washington, keeping the Patriots off the scoreboard altogether as Jefferson won a well-played game at Sager Field, 3-0. Tennant walked only two and didn’t hit any batters to move his impressive record to 5-0.

When the Patriots did get runners aboard, Tennant was at his two-out best, showing enough strikes and variety of pitches to see Washington leave eight runners stranded in the end.

Tennant’s best moments came in the sixth, when the Patriots had the bases loaded and only one out. Infield errors were responsible for two of the Patriot runners, and a Tennant walk jammed the bases. But the junior right-hander struck out Nathan Kerr and ended the threat by coaxing Davian Hester into grounding out to Chase Anderson at second base.

The unbeaten Tennant probably didn’t mind surrendering Washington’s fifth and last single.

With nobody out and a runner on first in the seventh, Washington’s Trey Virts grounded toward second, where the batted ball hit the runner, who was out by rule for interference. Virts was awarded first base and by rule given a hit.

When Craig Link went out on a fly to center and Hayden Stang caught Dalton Jackson’s long fly to left, Tennant had his shutout.

Jefferson’s runs came early in the game. Zac Rose had a sharp RBI single to plate David Dinges, who was singled off by Washington starter Spencer Delawder and moved to second when Cory Daly drew a walk.

The Cougars used singles from Cory Roman and Chase Anderson to fuel another one-run inning. Stang singled on a line to center, and when Tyler Green misplayed the ball, Anderson sailed in from third, giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

In the Jefferson fifth, Dinges walked, and when he set off for second on a pitch to Daly, he scored as the Jefferson shortstop sent a ringing double to the fence in left.

The Cougars committed some errors, but in general fielded well behind Tennant, who fanned four in going the distance.

Jefferson didn’t have any wild pitches or passed balls, often the bane of high school baseball in chilly weather.

With a record improved to 14-8, Jefferson continued on with a schedule that had it playing seven games in six days.

The Patriots had a 12-7 record and a rematch at home waiting yesterday.

Pitching owned this game, as it often does when strikes are thrown and errors, passed balls and wild pitches are hidden for a night.