Let the fine-tuning begin.
If Wednesday night is any indication, the New Hope High School baseball team appears prepared to make the in-game adjustments as well as any team in Class 5A.
Landon Boyd and Dusty Dyson provided perfect examples in a 13-5 victory against Saltillo in a Class 5A, Region 2 game at Trojan Field.
Boyd settled down after allowing seven hits to the first 14 batters he faced, while Dyson delivered a key double in a four-run fourth inning that helped New Hope (20-7, 7-2 region) end its regular season on a high note.
New Hope, which had clinched first place in the region last week with a win at West Point, received a first-round bye in the Class 5A North State playoffs for finishing first in the region and won’t play against until next Friday. New Hope coach Lee Boyd said the Trojans will use that time to get healthy, to put their pitching rotation in order, and to scout possible playoff opponents.
After a 15-hit attack in its final regular-season game, Boyd likes where his team is at this point in the season.
“I was pleased tonight offensively,” Boyd said. “We have not hit the ball like I know we can. We have won some close games. I was pleased to see us break out a little bit. I hope we can carry that over. I feel that if we can carry that offense over we will have a chance.”
Dyson, a senior designated hitter, is at the core of that hitting attack. Even though New Hope doesn’t have one player it counts on to drive in its runs, Dyson, who hits in the No. 5 spot, is a key source of power. After Dyson struck out in his initial at-bat, Boyd called time with Dyson at the plate for his second at-bat. He encouraged him to relax and to have confidence. The advice paid off as Dyson ripped a two-run double down the left-field line. The hit was part of a four-run outburst that erased a 4-1 deficit and sent the Trojans on their way. Two of the hits came on balls that outfielders appeared to lose in the lights.
“I just took a deep breath and relaxed my whole body and came out with a hit,” Dyson said. “We’re pleased with the way we have played. We don’t want it to end soon. We want to try to keep going and make it to the top.”
New Hope broke the game open with an eight-run fourth. It had seven hits in the inning and capitalized on three errors.
Peyton Lee and Taylor Stafford led the hitting parade with three hits apiece. Will Golsan and Tee Payne each had two as each starter had at least one hit.
Boyd took advantage of the support and scattered 11 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out eight. After some rough surfing early on, the right-hander mixed in a curveball and a changeup to keep hitters off balance. He also hit his spots better in his final two innings. It didn’t hurt that Stafford threw out a runner at home in the fifth to keep Saltillo from scoring more than one run in that inning. Lee pitched the final two innings.
“In the first inning, my stuff wasn’t working as well and I wasn’t hitting my spots and they got a couple of hits,” Boyd said. “Later on, I started hitting my spots more and I had more velocity on my fastball and my changeup and curveball were working good.”
Boyd said it is easier to clear his head after a rocky start when he can rely on a strong defense. He said the team is proud of its district showing, but he knows the Trojans will have to continue to play hard if they want to extend the season. As the team’s No. 1 pitcher, Boyd likely will get the ball in game one of the Trojans’ first playoff series, so he knows he has to keep throwing the ball like he has all season.
Dyson feels the Trojans have the potential to make some noise in the postseason. He said the team doesn’t need to change anything and needs to follow the plan that has worked so well the last part of the season.
“It feels like everything is falling through for us, our hits and our defense,” Dyson said. “We’re not having as many problems as we did at the beginning of the season.”
With a little bit of fine-tuning in the next week, Boyd hopes to put everything in place to extend the season well into May. He knows the team doesn’t have any superstars, but he feels the Trojans have a lot of pieces that could make them dangerous.
“There are five or six or seven teams I feel are very competitive, but I feel we can compete with those teams,” Boyd said. “I am not saying we know we can beat those guys, but I feel we can compete with them. We just hope that that happens.
“One through nine, we don’t have one superstar player, but I think that is special because we don’t have to depend on one or two guys to carry us. … I think that is good for a playoff run. I think you have to have teams like that, and I think teams like that are the ones that are successful.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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