LeDuc, St. James top Thorsen, Myrtle Beach in pitcher’s duel
St. James wasn’t about to look at the way it overtook the Region VII-AAA lead with anything but respect for the situation.
The Sharks defeated Myrtle Beach 1-0 on Friday at the Ripken Experience, getting yet another shutout performance from Dillon LeDuc. The lone run of the game came when Parker Rabon scored on a Seahawk fielding error.
In a game that included only five hits and 11 total baserunners, the pitching-dominated game didn’t disappoint.
“It might be on an error, but the fact that we put it in play against a pitcher like that was huge,” St. James coach Robbie Centracchio said, speaking of Myrtle Beach’s Praise Thorsen. “ … We’ll take putting the ball in play against a pitcher like that if it gives us a chance to win.”
With two outs in the second and Rabon standing on third, senior Brayon Mora hit a soft hopper to Seahawk third baseman Drayton Arnold. He couldn’t make the play, allowing Rabon to come home.
From there, only one baserunner from either team reached third base, a product of LeDuc and Thorsen’s efficiency. The St. James senior followed up his no-hitter against North Myrtle Beach last week to hurl a three-hitter.
Thorsen, who has now allowed only one earned run in 38 innings this season, struck out nine St. James hitters.
“I’ve run out of things to say to him,” Myrtle Beach coach Tim Christy said. “What are you going to do? He pitched his tail off. Unfortunately, their guy did, too.”
Said Rabon: “We knew the game was going to be a pitcher’s duel. We knew there weren’t going to be very many runs, very many hits. We just needed to make less errors.”
The impact of the game was also well-known.
St. James (10-5 overall, 6-1 Region VII-AAA) took a half-game lead over the Seahawks (10-9, 6-2) atop the region standings. If the Sharks win their three games next week, they’ll automatically earn the championship and a No. 1 playoff seed.
Each team has already earned a playoff berth and neither can finish lower than third in the final region standings, regardless of next week’s games.
Still, the title is on the line, and the Sharks aren’t counting on a Myrtle Beach loss.
“We’re going in winning every game,” Centracchio said. “That’s what your mindset has to be every region game.”
St. James | 010 | 000 | 0 | — | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Myrtle Beach | 000 | 000 | 0 | — | 0 | 3 | 2 |
▪ W - Dillon LeDuc. L - Praise Thorsen. Top hitters - St. James: Parker Rabon 1-3, Run; Liam Bloom 1-3. Myrtle Beach: Chris Timmons 1-3; Drayton Arnold 1-3; Cody Timmons 1-2.
▪ Records: St. James 10-5, 6-1 Region VII-AAA; Myrtle Beach 10-9, 6-2.
Contact IAN GUERIN at ian@ianguerin.com.
This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "LeDuc, St. James top Thorsen, Myrtle Beach in pitcher’s duel."