Loramie’s Maverick Grudich threw a two-hit shutout, striking out 11, in Wednesday’s win over Springfield Catholic Central. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Senior Maverick Grudich tossed a two-hit gem, reminiscent of his best, and powered the Fort Loramie Redskins to a 7-1 win over Springfield Catholic in the opening round of the Div. IV tournament.
Fort Loramie, OH – It seems like Maverick Grudich is 25 years old.
It seems like he’s been pitching for Fort Loramie for years.
And it has something to do with his mound presence – cool, execution-like. Knows what he’s doing.
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And that’s exactly what it looked like Wednesday when Grucdich spun a complete game 2-hitter to beat Springfield Catholic in the Redskins’ opening Division IV tournament game, 7-1.
“Actually, I’ve only pitched for a couple of years, but I’ve played since a sophomore,” the Loramie senior said afterwards. “I just like to pitch. I want to be out there. I like to have control of the game.”
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His veteran presence showed immediately as SCC scored in the top of the first on a pair of singles, a stolen base, and an RBI ground out. Grudich struck out the final out of that inning, then came back in the top of the second to strike out the side – four straight Ks on his way to 11 for the game. And you can ask any of the SCC batting order after the first inning…he had COMPLETE control of the game.
Loramie got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the second with a pair of two-out walks to Carson Arnold and Gabe Hart, a hit batsman, and successive RBI singles by Grudich and teammate Roger Hoying….3-0, Loramie. That’s all the support Grudich would need, but Loramie would go on to add two more in the fifth, and two in the sixth, accumulating 10 hits for the game. But the bright lights for this day were on Maverick Grudich, despite his appreciation for the 10 hits and 7 runs.
The offense churns as it churns…but the Redskins got enough of it in the second inning to score three runs.
He struck out 11, walked 1, and gave up just 2 hits, the single in the first and a leadoff double in the fifth…which Grudich stranded at second base by striking out the side for the second time in the game.
His fastball gained velocity and finish after the first inning.
He found the breaking ball by the third inning, and from that point on threw it for strikes nearly upon command.
“We knew that we were going to be pretty sound this year, overall. It just depended upon what we could do offensively,” said Loramie coach Jeff Sanders. “And what more can you say about Maverick. He’s been a bulldog pitcher for three years, and he didn’t disappoint again today.
“He wants to be out there, and the sign of a good pitcher is that when things get tough they rise to the situation. They take their game to the next level. And that’s what he does. Things started getting tough out there and he got aggressive, started pounding the strike zone…he was good!”
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It’s true that SCC, the #22 seed and winners of just 4 games this season (MaxPreps), had a batting order that hardly looked like the Big Red Machine. But Grudich’s ability to execute pitches after the top of the first would have been proportionately effective against most high school batting orders.
“I like to control the game,” he reiterated. “I like to change my looks, make the batter wait, or if he isn’t ready I’m going to throw the ball. When I play shortstop I don’t have that ability to control everything because I feel like a spectator unless the ball is hit to me.”
Loramie’s Carson Arnold beats out a hit…one of 11 by the Redskins in Wednesday’s win.
Good pitchers are also aware when the other team struggles to make good contact, and SCC made hard contact just twice in the course of the game – a line out to shortstop in the third, and the lead off double in the fifth. The curveball had a lot to say about that.
“I’ve been doing that for so long – practicing the curve for so long – that I have dents in our garage door from throwing at it. But yes, I’ve been working on that pitch forever, and I’m just happy that it works. I don’t change velocity from the fastball too much when I throw it, and it’s tough for hitters.”
Besides winning, the best thing to come from a game like Wednesday was the confidence that Grudich delivered to his teammates going forward, this after being no-hit by Minster last week and a 12-2 drubbing by league rival Russia.
“I like to believe that’s true because you want to feel that confidence when you’re on the mound,” he smiled. “I guess they’re thinking that when the #1 is out there and they get him some runs they can win this game. That gets everyone excited.”
Fort Loramie is the #2 seed in their bracket, and that’s likely to put a damper on excitement from the rest of their bracket when they get pitching like they did on Wednesday. Yogi Berra once famously said that good pitching beats good hitting every time…and vice-versa. You can look it up.”
“We have to be patient,” says Sanders, considering the Redskins’ struggle to score runs at times. “We have to churn our offense as it churns and take our opportunities as they come. It’s frustrating, but we’re getting there. We’ll be alright if we can muster up enough offense.”
That’s what Yogi said, only different…and vice-versa.
You can look it up!
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