H.S. BASEBALL: Ricky Ott fires gem in Hounds' victory over G-APublic Opinion Online
Shippensburg 7, Greencastle 2
Of note: Ricky Ott tossed a 3-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Shippensburg ... Justin Varner had 2 hits and 2 RBIs and Zack Piper hit a homer for the Greyhounds ... Trevor Ile had a homer for Greencastle.
Records: The Hounds (1-0) hosts Carlisle on Friday, 4:15 ... The Blue Devils (0-2) travel to Gettysburg on Friday, 4:15.
By JOEL RINEER Staff writer
SHIPPENSBURG -- Shippensburg baseball coach Dan Watkins knows his team will go only as far as its offense will take it.
On Wednesday afternoon in their season opener, the Greyhounds didn't need much offense against Greencastle-Antrim.
That's because of ace lefty Ricky Ott. Ott twirled a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts and Shippensburg scored four first-inning runs on its way to a 7-2 non-league victory over the Blue Devils.
"That's what we are after -- a lower pitch count and more fastballs," Watkins said. "I was wondering if he was going to be able to throw his fastball by them because they have good hitters throughout their lineup. He pretty much did that all night."
The University of New Orleans recruit struck out the side in each of the first two innings and kept his pitch count down -- he threw 96 pitches -- something he has had problems with in the past. It spelled trouble for Greencastle.
G-A coach Casey Brookens said, "I'll tell you, I wouldn't have wanted to face (Ott) on any other day. I thought he was off a little bit and if we
would have been patient with the strike zone, I felt we would have been fine. But guys had trouble staying off the high pitch." Ott and Justin Varner form a nice 1-2 punch on the mound for Shippensburg, and are the main reason why the Hounds will be competitive for a division crown in the Mid Penn Colonial Division. In the District 3 playoffs last year, Ship won 2-1 in the first round and fell 2-1 in quarterfinals. So it's easy to see why Watkins is focused on offense. "We have good pitching and defense, it's our hitting that we have to work on," said Varner, who was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. "We wanted to come out today and get on them early and the way Ricky threw, it took pressure off the defense and the offense." The Hounds managed only four hits, but benefited from eight walks and three untimely errors by Greencastle. A walk and an error put runners at second and third in the opening inning for Varner, who belted a two-run single up the middle for a 2-0 Ship lead. Two batters later, Kyle Plasterer roped a triple in the right-centerfield gap and scored on an error. The four runs proved to be more than enough. "I don't mean to make excuses, but I got one guy on crutches at short, one guy who is sick at short and another guy there who is pretty green," Brookens said. "The physical errors I can handle. It's the mental ones that I struggle with." Greencastle chipped away with a sacrifice fly from Grant Meyers and a solo homer from Trevor Ile, cutting the lead in half. Shippensburg finally got to Blue Devil starter Alex Izer, who walked a tightrope all game, in the sixth. Again, a walk and an error set the stage, with Zack Piper crushing a 3-2 offering from reliever Evan Dixon for a home run and a 7-2 advantage. "(Hitting) will be the key to how far we go," Watkins said. "If we can score seven through districts like we did tonight, we'll be fine." Especially if Ott continues to pitch like he did Wednesday. ---------- Joel Rineer may be reached at 262-4819 or jrineer@publicopinionnews.com. ---------- Shippensburg 7, Greencastle 2 Greencastle Shippensburg ab r h bi ab r h bi Ile 2b 1 1 1 1 P.Davis c 4 1 0 0 G.Meyers cf 2 0 0 1 Piper ss 2 2 1 2 Izer p 3 0 0 0 Ott p 4 0 0 0 Sellitto dh 2 0 0 0 Wrights cr 0 1 0 0 Barkdoll 1b 1 0 0 0 Varner dh 2 1 2 2 Bittner 3b 3 0 0 0 Kushner rf 0 0 0 0 Doyle c 1 0 0 0 Boldosser pr 0 0 0 0 A.Cordell cr 0 0 0 0 Bullock 1b 3 0 0 0 B.Meyers lf 3 0 0 0 Plasterer cf 2 1 1 1 D.J.Cordell rf 3 1 1 0 C.Davis 3b 2 0 0 0 Schanzenbacher ss 3 0 1 0 Reed lf 2 1 0 0 Tighe ph 0 0 0 0 Hess 2b 2 0 0 0 Totals 22 2 3 2 Totals 23 7 4 5 Greencastle 001 010 0 -- 2 Shippensburg 400 003 x -- 7 E--GA 3; Ship 1. LOB-- GA 4; Ship 7. 3B--Plasterer. HR--Ile (1); Piper (1). SB--Piper, Wrights. CS--A.Cordell. SAC--Ile; Hess. Greencastle Pitching ip h r er bb so Izer (L,0-1) 5 1/3 3 6 3 7 7 Dixon 2/3 1 1 1 1 0 Shippensburg Pitching Ott (W,1-0) 7 3 2 1 3 11 WP--Ott. JV: Greencastle 3, Shippensburg 1. | 
