By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – De Pere baseball player Quinn Falish had it going on both the mound and at the plate against Notre Dame Academy.
The junior right-handed pitcher threw four innings of one-hit ball, striking out 10, in the Redbirds’ 11-1 five-inning road victory over the Tritons April 21.
Falish was also 3-for-4 at the plate, including a double.
“The main focus was to throw strikes,” Falish said. “I have confidence in my defense, so I pitched to the catcher’s mitt.”
Falish worked quickly on the mound, something he said keeps him in the game.
“When I’m in a rhythm, it helps me,” he said. “It also helps the defense stay in the game.”
De Pere Head Coach Bob Van Rens said he was impressed with Falish
“Quinn is a bulldog on the mound,” he said. “He worked hard in the offseason and upped his velocity. He only threw about 70 pitches.”
Van Rens said Falish throws about 87-88 mph.
De Pere plated four runs in the first inning on two hits, two errors and two walks.
All four of the runs were unearned.
“It’s true Notre Dame helped us in the first inning, but we put the ball in play,” Van Rens said. “If you can put the ball in play, that makes it tough. This was the first time Notre Dame was on its field all season.”
Javin Gauthier had the big hit in the inning – a two-RBI single.
The Redbirds added a single tally in the second inning on a home run to left by Bryson Webb before sending 10 batters to the plate in scoring five runs in the fourth.
De Pere collected four hits in the marathon inning, including RBI by Falish, Garrett Foth and Bryan Gerbers (2).
The Tritons had a decent chance in the third inning to make it a game.
After Nick Bumgardner led off with a single – Notre Dame’s only hit of the game – Caden Capomaccio walked.
Landon Lozier then laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Falish threw wildly past first base on a defensive mix-up by the Redbirds, allowing Bumgardner to score.
With runners on second and third with nobody out, Falish struck out three of the next four batters to close the door.
“To Quinn’s credit, he settled down and got us out of the jam,” Van Rens said.
Van Rens said the weather has been tough, but finding bus drivers has also been an issue.
“We had to get here 90 minutes before today’s game,” he said. “That was our only ride here. The kids probably like getting out of school, but it’s been tricky.”
Van Rens said his team has great pitching depth, which should keep it at or near the top of the FRCC.
“We have 10 or 11 pitchers we can put on the mound and be confident,” he said. “We have good pitchers who haven’t seen the mound yet. We’re in a good spot in that regard.”
Webb, Foth and Gerbers each collected two hits.
Gerbers had two doubles and three RBI, while Gauthier drove in three runs.