Matthew's Pitching Debut

Josh Turner and Matthew Murphy pitched for the first time ever Thursday afternoon, in the third inning of the Rockies 18 – 6 loss to Coach Turner’s Rangers. Coaches Tracy and Tim had agreed to let Matthew and Tim’s son Josh pitch an inning.

After Rangers starting pitcher Jaron Grounds struck out the first six Rockies, Josh came on to pitch the top of the third. After giving up a just-fair leadoff double to Cooper, Josh induced a groundout to third, then struck out Kells on a 3 – 2 payoff pitch. Next Joshua got an infield single, then Matthew grounded a 1 – 0 pitch to Lucas at second. Matthew hustled down the line, but Lucas fielded the ball cleanly and threw out Matthew at first for the third out. Josh threw 7 strikes and 4 balls, allowing only one run on two hits…with no walks, a great first outing.

Then Matthew took the mound for the bottom of the third. He had plenty of warmup pitches, waiting for Grace to suit up in the catcher gear…she had been on-deck when Matthew batted. Tiny Lucas stepped in to bat first, with the smallest strike zone in the league. After a first-pitch ball, Matthew got Lucas to swing at two straight pitches in the dirt. Down 1 – 2 in the count, Matthew eventually walked Lucas, then Drake Hamil. Caleb Ballauf knocked a 2 – 1 pitch over the shortstop’s head into leftfield, but Kells got the ball in quickly, and the bases were loaded. Matthew worked former teammate Nate McLauren to a full count, then got him to strike out swinging.

Matthew had thrown twenty pitches, and was beginning to tire. His next twelve pitches were balls. Then Coach Tracy made his second visit to the mound, bringing Stephen in to pitch. Matthew walked to the dugout to cheers from both sides of the field. As he neared the dugout, his face bore a big smile.

Other highlights:
Bottom 1st: Ranger Jack Defreitas had a leadoff triple. Kells ran the ball down in left-center…the first of numerous good defensive plays by the tall Rockie. Soloman Farr and Josh both walked, then Jaron’s hit to right scored both runners. The Rockie pitcher Grace White struck out the next three Ranger batters to end the rally.

Bottom 2nd: Nate grounded the first pitch of the inning right back to Grace on the mound. On the hit first-baseman Cameron moved right toward the ball, so Grace calmly jogged over to first herself. Nate hustled down the line and almost beat her to the bag. Emeke walked and Alex’s ingle drove him in. Jack, Solomon, and Josh walked, and all three scored on Jaron’s triple to center.

Top 4th: Grace led off by singling to right on an 0 – 2 pitch. She took second on a wild pitch. Stephen’s groundout advanced Grace to third, and she was able to catch the Rangers napping and scored on the same play. Cameron walked, and quickly advanced to third, where he scored on a passed ball. Phillip walked with two out, but was stranded on base.

Bottom 4th: The Rangers scored five runs in the third straight inning. Jaron got things started with his third hit of the game, a double to right. Lucas and Drake walked, then Nate’s grounder knocked home Drake with the third run of the inning. When the throw to first got away Nate raced to second…coming out of a shoe along the way. Emeke and Alex walked, with Emeke later scoring on a wild pitch for the fifth run.

Top 5th: At the plate Matthew also had a big day. In the first two games he had four plate appearances, striking out each time. Besides the groundout off Josh, Matthew was due to bat fifth in the last inning. But it didn’t look good when first two Rockies were retired. Ranger first-baseman Alex Williams made a spectacular grab of a grounder over the base for the second out. But then Drew singled to left, and Joshua walked. Matthew also walked, on four pitches - carefully laying off balls out of the strike zone. He then took second on a wild pitch, and third on Grace’s grounder to short. Stephen singled, driving in Matthew.

All eleven Rangers reached base, and ten scored…seven Rangers scored at least twice. The Rockies six runs were scored by six different players. All but two Rockies reached base or put the ball in play.