As fans filled Red Wilson Field for the first time this season, the Y-D pitching staff put on a show as four arms combined for 13 strikeouts in a 4-0 victory over the Orleans Firebirds on Sunday.

After a season-opening loss to Brewster on Saturday, Wichita State right-hander Brady Hamilton helped Y-D turn the page in the home opener by striking out the side in the first inning. Hamilton came out of the gates pounding the zone with heavy fastball usage, recording six whiffs across the opening frame.

“My goal is just to get ahead; my stuff plays better when I’m ahead in the count,” Hamilton said. “Whether it’s fastball or slider early, I’m just trying to make sure I’m starting every at-bat 0-1.”

Hamilton came into this start looking to carry the momentum from a strong finish to his sophomore season into the summer. He struck out a season-high nine batters in his final regular season start against Memphis on May 16 and tossed 4.2 hitless innings in the American Athletic Conference Tournament against USF on May 21.

“I ended the season with some quality starts,” Hamilton said. “But, I hadn’t played in a couple weeks, so I was just excited to get out there, get on the mound today, just pound the zone and let the defense work.”

That’s exactly what Hamilton did throughout the afternoon, throwing 38 of his 57 pitches for strikes (67%) and not handing out any free passes. He received run support from a couple of RBIs by Chris Hacopian (Maryland) in the first and third innings, along with a run-scoring hit by Will Baker (Georgia Tech) in the third.

“I was definitely just trying to do my job, open it up and set the tone,” Hamilton said. “We got good run support today, good defense… Then, we got some really good dudes behind me, guys with some good stuff, so [I wanted] to hand it off to them.”

After four scoreless innings with five strikeouts, Y-D Manager Scott Pickler turned to Carson Marsh (Cincinnati) out of the bullpen, who preserved Y-D’s 3-0 advantage. Marsh ran into some trouble with two walks in the sixth inning, which marked the Firebirds’ biggest threat of the game. However, he was able to keep Orleans off the board by getting Abbrie Covarrubias (USC) to pop out to second.

From there, Dominic Desch (Nevada) and Ricky Ojeda (UC Irvine) combined for three innings with just one baserunner allowed. Not only did Desch and Ojeda keep traffic off the basepaths, but they did so in dominant fashion, striking out six batters between the two of them.

Holding a 4-0 lead, Ojeda breezed through the 4-5-6 hitters in the Orleans lineup to cap off the win. Fittingly, he slammed the door with Y-D’s 13th strikeout of the contest, getting Chris Barr (U.S. Military Academy) to swing through a fastball at the top of the zone.

Following a game where six walks plagued the staff in the Brewster loss, Y-D consistently attacked the zone throughout Sunday afternoon. As a unit, they threw 65% strikes in the win and walked only two batters.

Y-D will look to stay hot on the mound as it welcomes the Bourne Braves to Red Wilson Field for the first time this season at 5 p.m. on Monday.

(Photo by Sophie Solarino)