Led by a stingy pitching staff, the Gilmour Academy varsity baseball team produced a perfect 4-0 record as they closed out the month of April this past week.
In their four wins, the Lancers yielded a combined four runs, tallying two shutouts during the week.
Gilmour began the week with a 2-1 walkoff win over Shaker Heights High School. The Lancers then hit the road for the first time this season and came away with a 4-0 win at Geneva High School. After a 5-3 victory over a well-regarded Kirtland High School team, the Lancers closed out the week with a 7-0 victory over Cleveland Heights High School.
Ben DeMell '21 helped get the week off to a good start with his fantastic effort on the mound against the Red Raiders. He threw all seven innings, allowing only two hits and a lone unearned run. He struck out a season-high 17 batters, his second straight start in which he reached double digits.
While DeMell was in charge on the mound, the Lancers actually had to come from behind to win the game late.
With Gilmour trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Charlie Shepherd '21 led off with a line drive single to center. After Dan Jevnikar '22 sacrificed Shepherd to second, Paddy Murphy '22 came through with a clutch, two-out single to center to tie the game.
Tommy McCrone '23 would be the hero for the Lancers in the bottom of the seventh. He led off by lining a single to right and promptly stole second base. After advancing to third on an error, McCrone came racing home on a wild pitch to lift Gilmour to the win.
After having a key hit in the win a day earlier, it was Murphy's arm that played a big role in the win at Geneva. He hurled a shutout over the Eagles, allowing just four hits and a lone walk across seven innings of work. Murphy was incredibly efficient as he needed just 72 pitches, 54 of which were strikes, to get the win.
DeMell went 2-for-3 with a walk at Geneva as he smashed a home run and also belted a triple to center. McCrone also posted two hits and finished with a RBI and a run scored.
Kyle Laws '22 had a RBI double and walked twice out of the leadoff spot while Shepherd tallied a RBI single.
Gilmour fell behind early against a Kirtland team ranked among the top 25 in the state in Division III as the Hornets scored twice in the first inning. However, the Lancers came right back with a trio of runs in the bottom half and did not trail again.
A leadoff single by Laws was followed by a pair of outs. Shepherd kept the inning going by taking a walk. Vinny Bandwen '21 then came through by lining a single to center before Murphy followed by bringing home Bandwen.
Shepherd would earn the win on the mound against Kirtland, allowing a lone hit and one earned run in five innings of work. Will Kay '23 would come on to get the save as he allowed no runs in a walk-free two innings of work.
Kay also had the lone multi-hit outing of the game, going 2-for-3 against Kirtland.
A day after the Lancers' rematch with University School was postponed due to rain, Gilmour kept its winning ways going by coasting to a win over Cleveland Heights. In the process, the Lancers ended the Tigers' 12-game winning streak.
The Lancers used a six-run second inning to jump ahead early and were never truly threatened the rest of the way.
Shepherd and Murphy singled in the home half of the second and remained on base until two were out. Will Lazzaro '23 then drilled a home run on a line to right field to give GA three quick tallies.
McCrone got the rally restarted with a single and would come around to score on an error on the next batter. Jevnikar would deliver a RBI single to make it 5-0 while Bandwen took a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to add another run.
In addition to his home run, Lazzaro earned the win on the mound. He tossed five scoreless innings with four strikeouts before giving way to Jevnikar, who threw two hitless, scoreless innings of relief.
DeMell added a double and a walk in the win over Cleveland Heights.
The unbeaten week gave Gilmour wins in seven of its last eight games heading into the month of May.
#GoGA #WeAreGilmour