The Johnny Mac Red Thunder baseball team grabbed two wins Sunday afternoon in a double-header against American Na-tional West at Mehlville Senior High School.
The Red Thunder (28-8, 13-4 SLABA Varsity South) hammered out 21 runs on 15 hits in a 21-3 bombing of American Na-tional West in the first game of the day between the two teams.
“We were just hitting the snot out of the ball,” Johnny Mac head coach Nick Beck-mann told the Call. “Everyone knows that when you beat someone 21-3, everything was going our way.”
Red Thunder starting pitcher Tom Mc-Vey threw three innings, giving up no runs on three hits. McVey also stuck out three batters in his fourth win of the season.
“Tommy pitched really well,” Beckmann said. “We got him out of there after 40 pitches because things got out of hand and we wanted to save his arm a little bit.”
McVey was relieved in the fourth inning by Tony Mattera, who threw one inning. He gave up no runs and no hits.
“Tony’s going to be up with us for the rest of the season,” Beckmann said. “He really showed that he has control of the strike zone.”
Johnny Mac’s Kit Crancer finished the final inning of the game and gave up three runs on two hits in his 10th appearance this season.
I just love Kit to death,” Beckmann said. “He’s the type of kid that will do whatever you ask of him. Any time he has a good outing, it really makes me happy.”
The Red Thunder also generated three home runs against American National West as two of those home runs came from third baseman Jason Brown.
“He (Brown) has really been hitting the ball hard,” Beckmann said. “It’s nice to see him get a bunch of hits.”
Brown finished the game with a 4-4 performance with five runs batted in.
Johnny Mac’s Dan Fitzgerald hammered out the team’s other home run of the game in the fourth inning when he pinch hit for designated hitter Tom Belgeri.
“That’s the third or fourth home run that he’s hit for us,” Beckmann said. “He’s been in only 10 or 11 games this season.”
The second half of the double header proved to be a much tougher game for the Red Thunder as it scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 7-6 win over American National West.
Red Thunder starting pitcher Andy Rath-man threw four innings, giving up six runs on eight hits. Rathman also walked four and struck out one in the no-decision effort. Rathman was relieved in the fifth inning by Mattera, who gave up zero runs on three hits in three innings pitched. Mat-tera also walked two and struck out two in his first win of the season.
Up next for the Red Thunder are the SLABA varsity playoffs. Brackets and sites were to be determined after press time.
