Senior Matthew Minckler dazzles on mound as Portsmouth baseball blanks Salem
PORTSMOUTH - Behind a dazzling performance on the mound by senior Matthew Minckler, the Portsmouth High School baseball team put together its second straight victory on Friday night.
The Virginia Tech-commit threw five no-hit, shutout innings in a 7-0 win over Salem in a Division I contest,
"It's my first start in like 700 days or something, Minckler said. "It was really fun to get out here and compete on the mound; can't really compete to much at (shortstop) getting only two or three balls a game, so I thought it was really fun out there. Props to my catcher Frank (Krupp) having a great game and Coach (Geoff) Jablonski for calling a great game."
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Minckler walked two batters and struck out eight.
"Really Matthew, after the fifth batter, that was the second guy he walked, from that point on he kind of filled it up," Portsmouth head coach Tim Hopley said. "His stuff kind of came and went. He didn't have a feel for a fastball for a little bit, and he featured his breaking ball. Then he lost his breaking ball a little bit, then started to pound his fastball, but he mixed and matched."
Minckler struck out the first two batters of the game, Sean Roeger looking, then Derek Boodoo swinging. Minckler issued his first walk to Owen Doherty, before retiring Salem's clean-up hitter Dominic Hamman on a flyout to right.
Over the next two innings, and following the leadoff walk to Jason Garcia in the second, Minckler struck out four of the next six batters -two in the second and two in the third.
"Minckler did a great job throughout the game," Portsmouth junior third baseman Jake Carlisle said. "He spotted up and got the job done."
The fourth inning was the only inning Minckler didn't record a strikeout, but the inning did feature a spectacular diving catch in right field from Boden Driscoll, who displayed his versatility as he had eight strikeouts in Monday's season opener.
"I think my velocity rises as the innings go on, so I felt really good going into that third inning," Minckler said.
Minckler didn't allow a baserunner in his final three innings.
"We got Matthew through five innings which is what we were looking for," Hopley said. "The number was 75 pitches and he threw 74. It's a good spot in the progression from the beginning at 30 to 45, to 60 to 75, and next time he'll be able to add another inning to that. The longer each of those guys go, it's better for us. It gives us options."
Scoring runs the unconventional way
The Clippers got off to a 2-0 start in the first inning, and Portsmouth was causing havoc on the bases at any opportunity. Minckler, in a 3-1 count, led off the first with a single to right that got past second baseman Owen Doherty.
Minckler stole second base on the first pitch of Gar Hindle's at-bat. Hindle, who came up huge later, struck out. Elliot Miles walked, and Minckler advanced to third on a passed ball.
With Sebastian Lampert up, Miles was attempting to steal second base which had Salem starter Cooper Deschene focused on nailing him in a pickle. As Deschesne's back was turned, Minckler was off to home plate and scored for a 1-0 lead. Miles was safe at second on the play.
"A couple of us were super aggressive on the base-paths," Minckler said. "Last year, we could get away with having a ton of talented hitters who could hit home runs and doubles. This year, we're going to have play a little bit smaller. I use my speed to my advantage and a lot of the other guys do to."
Later in the inning, Miles scored on another passed ball during Carlisle's at-bat to make it 2-0. Miles also scored on another wild pitch in the third. Minckler scored on a passed ball in the sixth.
"There's a wood base at the bottom of the backstop, so sometimes it could be tricky if the ball bounces straight back you have a chance to run into an out, but the guys did a good job of making reads," Hopley said. "They were aggressive with their secondary leads, and when opportunities are there, you have to take advantage of them. It's not like exactly like we pounded the ball all over the yard, we just had an opportunity to get runs and the guys were appropriately aggressive and it paid off."
Delivering insurance runs
Leading 2-0 in the third, the Clippers found some two-out magic. Miles singled to left field on a ball that took a sharp hop past the Salem third baseman. Miles proceeded to second basemen when left fielder Ben LaGrasse bobbled the ball. That was followed by a walk by Lampert, in which Miles advanced to third base on a wild pitch.
After Miles scored on a wild pitch, Carlisle hit an RBI single to center, scoring Lampert and giving Portsmouth a 4-0 lead.
"We had runners in scoring position, and we needed to get the job done," Carlisle said. "So I got into a launch position and tried my best to hit it to the other side of the field. Just did my best to get the job done."
Portsmouth sent eight batters to the plate in the fourth.
Joe Zingariello began the inning with a double to right, followed by Devin Driscoll's single to center. Boden Driscoll knocked in Devin with an RBI single which increased the lead to 5-0.
Hindle laced an RBI single to right, scoring Devon Driscoll and giving Portsmouth a 6-0 lead.
"I was just thinking get the ball in the outfield, score a run and help the team," Hindle said. "I wasn't hitting well, then stepped up and put one through the gap."
"(Gar) is following in the footsteps of his brother Will," Minckler said. "Gar is a great player and he's doing more than we expected from him this year. I'm proud of his work and excited to see how his season and career plays out."
After losing its season opener, Portsmouth has won its last two games by a combined score of 21-3 and will face Alvirne on Monday at 5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Minckler leads Portsmouth High School baseball team past Salem
