Indians romp past Meadow Heights

PERRYVILLE -- St. Vincent sophomore hurler Corey Sauer, used mostly as a relief pitcher last year, received his first start of the spring Wednesday.

Sauer admitted he enjoys starting games more than closing them. And he looked strong in the role against Meadow Heights.

He tossed three shutout innings, surrendering one hit and two walks while striking out six batters to help the Indians to a 16-0 five-inning home rout of the Panthers.

Juniors Adam Buchheit and Matt Hotop also each threw a scoreless inning of relief for the Indians.

St. Vincent improved to 2-1, while Meadow Heights dropped to 0-1.

"I felt pretty confident," Sauer said. "I just came out and did what I had to do. The fastball was working great today."

Sauer, who had started just one game as a freshman and likes to pitch at the front of games because there is less pressure, also mixed in an effective curveball and changeup to keep Panthers hitters off balance. He said his team's rotation is strong, but he hopes to receive more starts after his strong performance.

"I think this would be his best [high school] performance so far," Indians catcher Dylan Moll said of Sauer. "He was real consistent with all his pitches."

While Sauer kept the Meadow Heights offense at bay, the Indians hitters provided their pitcher with plenty of run support, banging out nine hits and pushing across 16 runs.

Sauer, who added a hit and scored two runs, is a second cousin to St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer.

Still, the Indians coach said he never saw Corey play much baseball or pitch before he came to school at St. Vincent last year.

"I've got two sons of my own who are in the sixth and eighth grade, so I've always been busy with them, and he [Corey] always was a couple years older than my oldest one," coach Sauer said. "So we really haven't crossed paths over the years."

Sauer said having his cousin on the team has been a good opportunity to get to know him better, adding that Corey goes about things quietly and works hard.

"It's fun," coach Sauer said. "It's always enjoyable to have family on the team. Back in the mid 1990s, when I first coached at St. Vincent, I had two nephews who played for me. So I've had that experience with having a couple of nephews and it always makes it more interesting to see your family playing."

The St. Vincent coach said he was impressed by Corey's start, and that the right-hander likely will see more time in the rotation, especially during weeks when the Indians play three games. He did not take Corey out after three innings because of the big lead. He only planned to pitch him for the first few innings so he could give some others time on the mound.

"I think he did a real good job keeping control of his pitches," coach Sauer said. "He was able to give us three strong innings, and that's what we were looking for out of him today. ... I was impressed with his control, and he kept the ball around the plate and he used his defense. He made them swing the bat. He was a little crafty at times."

The Indians scored a lot of their runs by putting pressure on the Panthers' pitchers and defense by putting runners in motion. St. Vincent stole seven bases.

"We walked too many batters," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said. "Our pitchers need to hold the runners on. We didn't hold the runners on very well at all today, and that's one thing we've got to work on."

Meadow Heights00000--026

St. Vincent2365x--1690

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:WP -- Corey Sauer. LP -- Derek Hanners. 2B -- Darin Yamnitz (St. V). Multiple hits -- St. Vincent: Yamnitz 3-4. C.J. Pavlsoki 2-2, Matt Hotop 2-3. Records -- St. Vincent 2-1, Meadow Heights 0-1.