Are three arms better than one? Nation Ford thinks so after shutting out Indian Land

The Nation Ford Falcons got a combined two-hitter from three different pitchers Friday night to defeat the Indian Land Warriors 6-0 at Nation Ford.

Joseph Wyatt got the start on the hill and went 3.2 innings while striking out six, walking one, and only allowing one hit. Derek Sivec came on with two outs in the fourth and also gave up only one hit in his 2.1 innings of work. Andrew Pappalardo pitched the seventh inning to close things out.

The only time a Falcon hurler got into any trouble was in the top of the second when Chase Dougherty singled to center for Indian Land and Chris Rote walked with no outs. But Wyatt bore down and struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning with no damage done. In the top of the fifth, Wyatt walked Seth Bevans with one out, but then he picked him off first. After Daniel Gueldner singled, Tyler Causey made a diving catch of Reed Lilly’s fly ball in left to end the inning.

“Joseph just comes in and fills up the strike zone and doesn’t walk people,” Nation Ford coach Stas Swerdzewski said. “He can command two pitches…very pleased with how he did.”

The Warriors’ pitchers were not bad in their own right, but their defense did not do them many favors. After Alex Stennett doubled to left to lead off the game for the Falcons, Greg Izzo’s grounder was booted by the second baseman. Two batters later, Causey’s groundout to second that would have potentially been the third out, brought Stennett home from third. Zander Sheldon’s base hit then scored Izzo to put Nation Ford up 2-0.

“I feel offensively we’ve had a pretty good approach,” Swerdzewski said.

“The pitcher that Indian Land ran out there is a good arm and he keeps you off balance. He can throw any pitch in any count. Our guys grinded out some at-bats and waited for their pitches to hit.”

In the home half of the fifth, Stennett, who was 2-for-4, doubled off the top of the right-field fence with one out. After a passed ball moved Stennett to third, Izzo’s base hit to right brought him in. The right-fielder made an ill-advised throw home which airmailed the catcher and allowed Izzo to take second. Nick Hoffman plated Izzo with a single to right-center that made it 4-0.

The Falcons tacked on two more in the sixth. Kane Luther and Luke Gardner walked to lead off the inning. A base hit to center by Izzo, who was also 2-for-4, scored Luther, and Hoffman hit a grounder to second that brought Gardner home and finished the scoring.

Indian Land starting pitcher Matt Murray struck out four and walked one in 4.1 innings, but five Warriors’ errors meant three of the four runs he allowed were unearned.

Nation Ford will host Clover Monday, while the Warriors travel to Chester on Tuesday.

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 11:27 AM with the headline "Are three arms better than one? Nation Ford thinks so after shutting out Indian Land."