FloridaLeague posted on August 06, 2010 06:47
Megan Walsh (UNC)
Nick Goody (State College of FL) stood on the mound for Winter Park pitching with determination from the very first delivery of the 2010 Florida League Championship. In the bottom of the first inning, Goody sent all three of the Leesburg Lightning’s leadoff batters back to the dugout with disgust after three straight looking strikeouts.
And for the rest of Thursday night’s game at Tropicana Field, Goody continued to send his signature fastball over the plate time and time again in the Diamond Dawgs’ 1-0 victory against the Lightning.
In what became a defensive pitching showdown, Goody earned his fifth win after pounding the strike zone for seven innings, giving up only two hits and one walk for no runs. To top it all off, Goody struck out nine Lightning batters to earn the Championship game’s MVP honors.
“Nick is very confident on the mound. He goes out there and attacks hitters,” head coach Clint Chrysler said. “That swagger... I don’t want to say he struts around out there, but he has a presence about him, a presence of confidence, and knows that he’s going to go out there and give us a chance to win.”
Meanwhile, Kyle Wahl (Southern University) settled into a similarly strong performance for the Lightning, Wahl pitched for 6.2 innings and gave up four hits, one earned run and two walks while striking out six Dawgs.
Both the starting pitchers and defensive players remained their composure and kept the game scoreless for seven innings, but the Diamond Dawgs took advantage of a labored Wahl in the bottom of the seventh inning to put up the game’s one and only run.
Wahl walked Spencer Theisen (Stetson) to set up catcher Chase Okey (Lake Sumter CC) for the game-winning hit after Wahl was substituted out of the game for Nick Wilson (Lake Sumter CC) and Theisen stole second base. Okey, who catches for Wilson in college and is well aware of every pitch in the righty’s repertoire, took advantage of his insider’s knowledge and singled to right field to plate Theisen for the night’s first and only RBI.
“I was just trying to look for a good pitch to hit,” Okey said. “He is a teammate of mine, so I know everything that he has, and I was just looking for a good fastball that I could handle and hopefully hit hard to drive in the run so I was fortunate.”
Jake Boyd (Stetson) notched a strikeout in his one inning of strong relief work after Goody reached 100 pitches, setting up closer Chandler Jagodzinski (Lake Sumter CC) to earn his tenth save of the season.
The 2010 Florida League Champions finished the season with three strong playoff wins after a 28-11 regular season, tying the league’s record for the most wins in a season at 28. But nothing could be sweeter than their goal all along: a win at Tropicana Field.
“Nine hits in a 1-0 game?” Chrysler said. “It was a grinding game, but our guys were able to persevere and pull through for the win. The guys gelled together instantly. It was a great season.”