Oak Ridge rides strong pitching to 5-0 start

OAK RIDGE — Oak Ridge proved Monday it has a fairly deep pitching rotation.

Junior Jace Dye was called upon to start against Zalma, becoming the fourth hurler to make a start for the Blue Jays in their first five games.

Dye pitched strong, striking out seven batters in three scoreless innings to help Oak Ridge to a 12-1 five-inning win.

Oak Ridge freshman Brett Thomas, who tossed a no-hitter earlier this season, came in for the fourth and fifth innings, striking out five batters.

Blue Jays coach Jason Niswonger said he has never had a deeper staff in seven years with the baseball program.

His rotation has allowed four runs in five games, helping Oak Ridge to a 5-0 start.

"I really have the luxury of having depth at pitching, which at Class 1 you rarely have," Niswonger said. "I'm very blessed there. ... And the difference between one and four is not that great."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Oak Ridge pitcher Jace Dye pitched against Zalma on Monday at Oak Ridge.

Niswonger liked what he saw from Dye, who had a strong two-seam fastball and circle changeup against Zalma.

Dye, also a third baseman, received most of his action as a position player last year. He pitched in about six games, mostly in relief. He batted 370.

"He throws real hard," Niswonger said of Dye, estimating his pitcher threw in the high 70s. "I told him to stay in the strike zone. ... He only got hit hard once or twice. But he did well staying in the strike zone and working out of trouble. And our defense is much better, which makes for better pitching."

Dye pitched his way out of bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings. He gave up five hits and one walk.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Zalma second baseman Matt Walker reached for a ground ball hit by Oak Ridge's Adam Noce, who made it to first base safely during the first inning Monday at Oak Ridge.

Thomas caught the first three innings before moving to pitcher. He was impressed with Dye.

"He got the ball up a little bit, but he was throwing real hard," Thomas said. "He really got out of his jams well. There were a couple times there where he got in a little bit of a jam, but he came back and struck out two or three batters in a row to get out of it. So it was all about his clutch pitching."

While Dye and Thomas combined to strike out 12 Bulldogs, the offense gave their two pitchers plenty of run support, including five runs in the first inning alone.

"We're going to face better hitting this year, so I've got to step up my game a little bit more," Dye said. "But I think I did all right today."

Dye said every one of the pitchers must be on top of his game to earn more time on the mound since it's such a deep staff. Sophomore Garret Light and junior Ethan Sachs are the other two Oak Ridge pitchers to receive starts.

Thomas agreed with Dye, saying that the staff gets along, but everyone feels pressure to perform.

"It makes us better just competing with each other to try to get better than the other person," Thomas said. "But we've all been pitching evenly this year. We've all been pitching good.

"We have the Oak Ridge tournament coming up this week, and that's really when it's going to help having four pitchers who can go deep into a game because we might play five games in six days. ... Instead of just having two or three men, you have four starters that are real legit."

Niswonger said having four pitchers will help him in districts because he can start three and designate one as his closer.

Zalma coach Dwyght Ford said his pitchers need to throw more strikes. Bulldogs starter Nick Smith and reliever Stephen Simmers combined to walk 12 Oak Ridge batters.

He also added that his hitters need to be more patient.

"They pitched well," Ford said. "We were swinging completely out of our heads. Once we relaxed and had nice short, compact swings, we put the ball in play."

Zalma 000 01 — 1 7 1

Oak Ridge 534 X — 12 7 2

WP — Jace Dye (1-0). LP — Nick Smith. 2B — Cody Myers (OR), Ethan Sachs (OR), Brett Thomas (OR). Multiple hits — Oak Ridge, Thomas 2-2; Zalma Smith 2-3, Matt Walker 2-3.