HS Baseball: Setlock shines as Blue Mountain blanks Panther Valley
Blue Mountain pitcher Evan Setlock looks for a sign, while Cohen Kirby stands ready at third base in a DIvision I baseball game Thursday at Panther Valley High School. The Eagles blanked the Panthers 2-0. (Photo by Eli Doyle).
LANSFORD — Blue Mountain continued its stretch of dramatic victories Thursday, edging Panther Valley 2-0 in a Schuylkill League Division I baseball game at Panther Valley High School.
Junior Evan Setlock tossed a shutout and struck out nine, helping the Eagles (7-4, 6-1 D-I) claim sole possession of first place after Tri-Valley fell to North Schuylkill 8-2.
Setlock allowed six hits over 6.2 frames and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth after two errors and a walk. He capped the inning with his ninth strikeout.
“Evan didn’t panic when they had rallies or runners on,” Kramer said. “He slowed the game down and he was breathing, which we talked to him about. He tried to minimize the damage, and Aidan (Grace) did that last night, too.”
Blue Mountain scored its first run in the second inning after Dean Faust doubled to the left-field gap, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Brady Strause’s 10-pitch RBI double to right. Setlock later provided insurance in the seventh with a two-out RBI single down the third-base line to plate Strause, who had walked, stolen second, and moved to third on a wild pitch.
Setlock also tripled earlier in the game.
Panther Valley starter Danny Wehr matched Setlock nearly pitch-for-pitch. The right-hander went 6.2 innings, struck out 10 and allowed just one run on five hits. The Panthers (3-6, 1-5) stranded eight runners and couldn’t capitalize on Blue Mountain’s three defensive errors.
“These are the types of games we expect to be in,” Kramer said. “It seems like we’ve been getting everyone’s ace, and we take that as a compliment. We want to be able to beat (the opponent’s) best in order to be where we need to be.”
