In the case of Rogersville pitcher Brett Denney, allowing just one run on four hits through seven innings of play will usually net you a win in the high school baseball ranks.
The only problem? Hillcrest sophomore Brett Letterman isn't interested in 'usual'.
As good as Denney's performance on the mound was on Thursday, Letterman was just a little bit better – tossing a two-hit shutout to help Hillcrest (11-4) down the Rogersville Wildcats (5-9) at home, 1-0.
Letterman made it look easy the whole way through – retiring the side in order in every inning except the first and fourth, and allowing just one baserunner to reach third base back in the opening frame.
“That makes it a whole lot easier to pitch and it makes it a whole lot easier to play defense,” Hillcrest head coach Ryan Schaffitzel said. “[Rogersville] only had, really, one threat. He did a great job getting ahead and getting outs early in the inning.”
Early outs were the most resonant theme of the game for Letterman, who didn't let a single Rogersville batter get on base with less than two outs in any inning – leaving little room for the Wildcats to produce a rally of any sort.
“Any time you don't get a leadoff runner or at least a guy with one out, you're going to struggle to score,” said Rogersville head coach Casey Ledl. “Obviously, that's disappointing.”
It appeared that the streak of no baserunners with less than two outs was going to come to an end in the top of the sixth when Rogersville's Haden Parton smacked a deep fly ball into the right field corner, but right fielder Teagan Rambo got a terrific jump off the swing of the bat and made a tough running catch before the ball dropped just inside the foul line.
“It's mostly about just pounding the zone and trusting your defense,” Letterman said after the game. “I couldn't do it without my defense. They made a lot of great plays out there.”
The lone run of the contest came compliments of shortstop Tanner Ryan, who lined a single past third baseman Nathan Ashley in the second inning to bring Kamron Grant to the plate after stealing second and third base just moments earlier.
The Hornets had chances to give their starting pitcher some significant insurance on the scoreboard, but left the bases loaded in the first and stranded a runner 90 feet away in the third.
“It's good to see that we can win not doing that,” Schaffitzel added when asked about his team's struggles to bring in runners on Thursday. “I hope that's not becoming the norm. I don't think it is, I think it's just that their guy wasn't bad either. You've got to give him some credit, too.”
Hillcrest stays home to host Joplin on Tuesday, while Rogersville has showdowns with Parkview and Carthage on Saturday.
