No Free Passes
Pitching is often not about being great, but simply making your opponent earn its way onto the bases.
Steve O'Donnell made sure to do that Thursday evening.
Karns City's senior allowed five runs (four earned) on 12 hits, but he issued no walks on a soggy night at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.
His counterparts — North Clarion pitchers Korey Mills, Tyler Wolbert and Zyler Hargenrader — combined for 10 walks in an 11-5 victory for the Gremlins.
“Somebody in our dugout mentioned that near the end of the game, that Steve had no walks and they (Wolves) had 10,” said KC coach Josh Smith. “Steve finds a way to be around the plate and we know we can count on him to do that. It's what you want out of your senior leader.
“He doesn't have an electric fastball, but he has a curveball that moves a lot.”
O'Donnell struck out four in the victory.
“I just try to pound the zone,” he said. “As long as the defense is behind me making plays, and I have confidence that it will, I just need to throw strikes. That's the mentality of our whole staff.”
O'Donnell allowed a hit in each of the first three innings, but the Wolves (5-4) did not score until the top of the fourth. By that time, the Gremlins (7-4) had already scored four runs on just two hits.
Mills never found his groove, giving up four runs and walking four in just two-plus innings. He was pulled after walking Jake Weckerly and hitting Ty Belles with a pitch to start the third.
KC's first four runs scored on a double steal, balk, RBI-groundout and a wild pitch. The last two came with reliever Tyler Wolbert on the mound, but were charged to Mills.“Nothing's better for a pitcher than to look up early in a game and see some crooked numbers on your team's side of the scoreboard,” said O'Donnell, who allowed a run-scoring single to North Clarion's Bryce Byers in the fourth that cut KC's lead to 4-1.Karns City's bats came alive in the bottom of the fifth. With Wolbert still on the mound, Cam Blair and Connor Schaffner both walked with one out. Colton Hutchison singled in one run, O'Donnell singled in two and Tyler Yough's triple scored another. Yough scored moments later on a wild pitch.Four of the Gremlins' seven hits in the game came in the fifth.“Our offense is streaky, that's the best way to put it,” Smith said. “I'm not sure why that is, but me and the other coaches throw thousands of pitches in batting practice. The kids stick together, though.”O'Donnell added a two-run single in the sixth and took an 11-3 lead into the seventh before three Gremlin errors prolonged the outing.North Clarion 000 102 2 — 5 12 2Karns City 112 052 x — 11 7 3W: Steve O'Donnell 7 IP (4K, 0BB). L: Korey Mills 2+ IP (2K, 5BB).North Clarion (5-4): Jacob Bauer 2-1B R, Logan Minich 1B 2B R RBI, Tyler Wolbert 2-1B R, Zyler Hargenrader 1B 2B RBI, Bryce Byers 1B 2RBIKarns City (7-4): Steve O'Donnell 2-1B 2R 4RBI, Tyler Yough 3B R RBI, Cam Blair 2R RBI, Colton Hutchison 1B 2R RBIMonday: Karns City at Cranberry
