Sweet Home baseball struggling at the plate
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

There's a good reason why Sweet Home has yet to win a baseball game this season, and it starts and ends at the plate.

Sweet Home was outhit 24-5 between ECIC Division I losses to Lancaster, 9-0, on Monday, April 23 and Clarence, 6-3, on April 24.

Lancaster pitcher Nick Sherman fired a one-hitter and allowed two runners on base. Sophomore Brandon Hudson broke up the Redskins' no-hitter in the sixth inning. Earlier in the game, Travis Denman walked and stole second but was stranded.

"We put the ball in play but couldn't hit it to holes in the infield," said Sweet Home coach Derek Zgoda.

Lancaster pounded out 14 hits and led 3-0 after four innings and added six runs over the last two innings.

"Instead of making a mistake and turning it around, we're making more mistakes and the wheels are starting to fall off a little bit," said Zgoda. "We're still getting decent enough pitching and defense though. Hopefully, it's just a sign of growing pains."

Derek Wiser allowed four earned runs over four innings. Corey Sykes struck out one batter over the final two innings.

Sweet Home scored three runs against Clarence but all three came on errant Red Devil throws in the third. Mike Wolcott reached base on an error and scored on a passed ball. Brian Pappagallo reached base on an error, stole second, reached third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. Ryan Maxwell reached base on a walk and scored on a passed ball.

Denman hit 1 for 2 to raise his batting average to .444. He has a .583 on-base percentage, leads the team with three RBIs and struck out once. He's also the team's No. 1 pitcher in the rotation.

John Graziano and Hudson also singled for Sweet Home.

Kris Gentzke led Clarence with a triple, home run and four RBIs.

Sweet Home (0-5, 0-4) looks to turn it around with games every day this week. The Panthers hosted Jamestown on April 30 and Lockport on May 1 but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They are at West Seneca West on Wednesday, May 2 and have an away and home game with Orchard Park on Thursday, May 3 and Friday, May 4.

"We're trying to build on the positives," said Zgoda. "They're in the right frame of mind to turn it around."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com