Merritt’s one-hitter helps English beat Winthrop

LYNN ? Vanderbilt-bound Ben Bowden rightly gets a lot of the publicity for the Lynn English baseball team. But the Bulldogs have another good pitcher in Matt Merritt.Merritt gave up a leadoff single but then shut down Winthrop, throwing a 1-hitter to lead English to an 8-0 win over the Vikings, Friday night, at Fraser Field.The lanky right hander struck out 10 and walked three. No Winthrop runner made it to third base.”He was able to throw all three of his pitches, fastball, curveball and changeup, for strikes all night long,” English coach Joe Caponigro said. “And despite the strikeouts he was able to keep his pitch count low. He was in total command.”While the Bulldogs (5-6) have gotten good pitching throughout the season, their offense has been less than spectacular. English only came up with five hits last night but was helped by six Winthrop errors that led to seven runs in the first two innings.”We talk about putting the ball in play and making things happen,” Caponigro said. “We didn’t get a lot of hits tonight, but we put the ball in play and that puts pressure on the defense to make plays.”Kyle O’Connor had a pair of singles and scored twice, while Sanchez reached base four times (three walks and a HBP) and scored three runs. Merritt added a single and scored a run, while Bowden, Josue Perez and Cam Hagerty drove in one run each.Steve Goddard started on the mound for Winthrop (3-9) and lasted just two innings. While only one of the seven runs he gave up was earned, he didn’t help himself much by committing a throwing error, walking four and throwing a couple of wild pitches.O’Connor led off the bottom of the first by laying down a bunt to the left side that Goddard threw away for a 2-base error. After Sanchez walked, Gentile hit a liner to third that popped out of Brandon VanDalinda’s glove. VanDalinda still had time to throw to second for a force, but the ball bounced off Bob Fisher’s glove. O’Connor scored as Fisher tried nail Sanchez advancing to third, but his low throw scooted through VanDalinda, allowing Gentile to move to second.Sanchez scored and Gentile went to third on Merritt’s groundout to short, and after Bowden walked and stole second, Perez hit a grounder to short that scored Gentile when first baseman Brian Spinazzola dropped the throw. Bowden scored on the first hit of the inning, a single up the middle by Hagerty.The second inning wasn’t much better for the Vikings. O’Connor blooped a 1-out single to shallow left and Sanchez walked. After Gentile popped out, Merritt hit a fly ball to shallow center that Robert Diaz dropped, allowing O’Connor to score. Sachez came home on a wild pitch, and Perez drove in Merritt with a single through the hole to right field.Meanwhile, Merritt was mowing down Winthrop. After Dylan Driscoll opened the game with a single up the middle, Merritt pitched to only one batter over the minimum through the sixth inning, getting a nice first-to-second double play turn by Bowden to end the third. He struck out the side in the fifth, and after walking Chris Fucillo to open the seventh, he fanned the next two batters before getting the last out of the game on a lazy popup to Bowden.