By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager
A year ago, most things came pretty easily to the La Plata Warriors baseball team as it stormed to the state 3A championship.
With only a couple returning players that saw significant action last year, a much different La Plata squad took the field for this season. But through two games, the results have not been much different.
Behind six shutout innings from Nate Ryon on Monday, the Warriors knocked off the visiting McDonough Rams 8-0. It was the second straight shutout to open the year for La Plata, which blanked Westlake in its opener last Friday.
“Naturally you’ve got to be happy with a shutout,” La Plata coach Dan DeVitis sad. “I thought Nate threw a real nice game and I thought our defense played really well.”
McDonough (0-2) mustered just three hits on the game, and moved a runner into scoring position just once. Ryon struck out six, and the La Plata defense played an error-free game behind him.
“I felt great,” Ryon said. “My arm felt real good and I had the defense behind me.”
La Plata (2-0) scored all it would turn out to need in the bottom of the third. The Warriors loaded the bases with no outs, and Ryon came across the plate with the first run on a wild pitch. Later, Charlie Sturman’s two-run single increased the lead to 3-0.
In the fifth, La Plata tacked on five more runs though the squad produced just three singles — none of which left the infield. Four walks and an error aided the La Plata cause and sealed the game’s outcome.
La Plata had squandered an early opportunity, leaving the bases loaded in the first. The Warriors loaded the bases — on a walk and two hit batters — with nobody down but failed to score. The Warriors left them loaded again in the third and the fifth, as well.
“McDonough’s pitchers did a nice job,” DeVitis said. “We didn’t really hit the ball that well tonight. Three or four times we had opportunities to break the game wide open and couldn’t get it done. But the major thing is we won.”
McDonough, which dropped its opener to North Point by a 10-3 count, hosts Lackey on Wednesday.
La Plata has outscored its opposition 24-0 through two games, but will need to be more efficient at the plate with runners on base moving forward. The Warriors play at Thomas Stone on Wednesday and at Northern on Friday.
“We need to pick it up when we get guys on base,” Ryon said. “That’s something we’re going to work on.”
With an essentially brand-new team on the diamond, the Warriors are struggling a bit with the mental aspect of the game, according to DeVitis. With the luxury of an experienced, senior-laded team a year ago, that was generally not an issue.
“It’s a much different-looking team, a different group of kids,” DeVitis said. “Our seniors starting, other than Seth Donnelly and Nate, nobody really has a lot of experience. We’re trying to do a lot in a little bit of time. As a coaching staff we have to be patient. These are new kids in new situations. The kids are really working hard.”
And the Warriors are working to jell into a cohesive unit as well, another thing that last year’s group did not need to work on after coming through the ranks together.
“We’ve come together a lot on the team,” Ryon said. “The better we come together the better we play as a team, and that’s really what it’s all about — team chemistry.”
La Plata 8, McDonough 0
M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 2
L 0 0 3 0 5 0 x – 8 9 0
astates@digitalsports.com
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