Veteran hurler Nathan Deutz strikes out a dozen in 10-0 romp over Sacred Heart
Logan Phillippe pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to finish off a 10-0 win over Sacred Heart on Saturday at Yankee Field, but he didn’t throw the biggest pitch of the day.
That honor went to his great-grand uncle, Gene, who threw out the first pitch as part of the Yankees’ 80th anniversary celebration. Fittingly, it was Logan who crouched behind the plate to receive the pitch.
“That’s special when you see something like that,” said Gene, a left-handed outfielder on the Yankees’ 1954 state championship team. “He threw the ball well. It was special throwing the first pitch to him. I didn’t know that was gonna happen when I got here.”
If Gene set the stage, Milroy veteran lefty Nathan Deutz brought the house down, and he set the tone right away by striking out the side in the first inning.
After the Yankees posted a run in the bottom of the first, Deutz picked up where he left off by retiring the side in order in the second, with two more strikeouts. He then struck out the side again in the third to bring his three-inning strikeout total to eight.
“I told the guys before the game that this means a lot more than just winning a game — it means a lot for Milroy, it means a lot for the guys that came out here to watch us. It gave me a little extra incentive, a little more life on my fastball.”
Milroy manager Aaron Mathiowetz called Deutz’s performance unreal.
“I’ve been on this team since 2013, watching Nathan and (his brother) Austin throw … he wanted it, and of course we were going to let him do it,” Mathiowetz said. “He turned back the clock a little bit. He got ahead of hitters and looked awesome.”
The Yankees’ bats woke up in the bottom of the third. Branden Flock led off with a walk, and Alex Schuh was hit by a pitch. David Schmidt singled home Flock, and Brock Schultz drove in Schuh and Schmidt with a single up the middle for a 4-0 lead. Brock made his way to third on a wild pitch and single by Andy Schmidt and scored when Brian Dolan grounded out.
“The last eight to 10 games, we’ve had double digits in hits in most of them — our offense has really been kind of our calling card,” Mathiowetz said. “Today, a lot of it was the Nathan Deutz show, but our defense backed him up a lot, and our hitting also was great.”
Sacred Heart got its first hit with one out in the fourth but didn’t threaten after that, and Milroy tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the inning, with the big hit coming from Schultz, who singled to drive in Schuh and Mathiowetz, whose base hit earlier scored Flock.
Deutz showed signs of tiring in the fifth when he issued a four-pitch walk to open the frame, but the 41-year-old bounced back and stuck out two of the next three batters. He opened the sixth with his 12th strikeout before pitching himself into his first jam. An infield hit and two walks loaded the bases, but Deutz got the next batter to line out into a double play to end the threat.
Deutz gave up just two hits and walked three. “I was getting tired,” admitted Deutz, who was close to being pulled late in the game. “But I felt good; I may never do that again, so this means the world to me. I haven’t pitched a lot this year, being busy with the kids, so it took me a little longer to get into shape. I told the guys a week ago, ‘I’m getting the ball — I might go two innings, I might go seven.’” Even when he tired, Deutz remained in control and was able to continue to work the corners and keep the Sacred Heart batters off balance all game.
“We got up in the count before using the off-speed for the most part, and that’s traditionally how I like to work— make them hit my fastball before I start speeding their bats up,” said Deutz.
The Yankees scored their ninth and 10th runs in the bottom of the sixth, when Flock and Schuh led off with back-to-back doubles. Schuh’s two-bagger scored Flock, and pinch runner J.R. Vierstrate scored on a base hit by Mathiowetz.
Phillippe replaced Deutz in the seventh and picked up two strikeouts.
Flock ended up with three hits and four runs scored, and Schultz and Andy Schmidt both also had three hits to lead a 14hit attack for the Yankees. Schultz also drove in four runs.
The Yankees will open the double-elimination Region 2C Tournament at 7 p.m. on Saturday, when they will take on Stark out of the Tomahawk East in Springfield.
Sacred Heart 000 000 0 — 0 3 2 Yankees 104 302 x — 10 14 0 N. Deutz (W), Phillippe and A. Schuh. 2B: Schultz, A. Schuh, Flock, D. Schmidt. HBP: A. Schuh. SACB: B. Dolan, A. Schuh.
