WAREHAM, Mass. – Payton Manca’s (Florida State) last outing was his biggest hiccup of the summer: five earned runs in an 8-5 loss to Y-D July 16.
Pitchers are bound to have rough starts. Going into All-Star weekend, the Seminole was determined for his next one to be the opposite.
“Me and (pitching coach) O’Connor talked. I had the All-Star game and a bullpen to work.,” Manca said of how he kept his morale positive. “If I can conquer the mental aspect (of a rough outing), it’s a night and day difference.”
After a long nine days without starting, Manca bounced back in full force, throwing six shutout innings in the Kettleers’ 2-1 win over the Wareham Gatemen.
“I was attacking the heater on both sides of the plate,” he said of what worked well for him on the mound. “I got a lot of weak contact in the air and on the ground.”
The Kettleers have had a dominant starting pitching staff. The rotation ranks fourth in the league in ERA, holding a 3.99 this summer.
No starter has seen the sixth inning this summer.
Until Friday night.
Heading into the sixth inning, Manca’s pitch count was at 65 – nearly on target for his initial goal this game. That wasn’t enough for him.
“I talked to my coaches at school, and I wanted to get up to 70 pitches tonight,” he said. “When the sixth came, I said, ‘Hey, let me empty the tank right here.’”
Cotuit manager Loren Hibbs and pitching coach Tim O’Connor let him do just that – and it paid off. Manca faced the minimum in the sixth and finished with 76 pitches.
“Credit to Florida State’s coaches,” Hibbs said. “They’ve given us the freedom to extend him to 60, 65, 70 pitches.”
Manca had nearly no room for error, as the Kettleer bats only recorded two hits in the game. In a tight pitcher’s duel like that one, confidence is key for the lefty.
“I was working in and out with the fastball,” he said. “It was working, so I stayed with it and trusted myself.”
Another aspect of the game Manca trusted was the Kettleer relievers. Having the best bullpen ERA in the league behind you can certainly help in a shutout start.
“If they hold runners and don’t allow anybody to score, it just gives you more confidence and allows the hitters to do their thing,” he said of the bullpen’s reliability. “We had a show tonight with Kyle Remington (Illinois) and Jonathan Adelmann (Bucknell). It’s just awesome.”
