Young takes notes of Bulls' victory in home opener

~ The former Central player will pitch tonight for the Sikeston team.

SIKESTON -- Lance Young spent Thursday night preparing the scouting report on the Union City Greyhounds.

Tonight, Young will try to implement the plan when he heads to the mound for the Sikeston Bulls.

The Bulls won their home opener Thursday, beating Union City 6-1 to improve to 3-3 for the season.

Young, a 2006 Central graduate who played this past spring at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, is happy to have the opportunity to pitch in a college wood bat league this summer.

"I'm just glad to be able to play close to home," Young said. "The Bulls were the first people I talked to about playing this summer, and they said they had room for me.

"I was disappointed about the spring, because I thought I would get to pitch more. I'm glad I'm going to get to pitch here. I pitched more last week than I did all spring."

Young, who pitched six innings in relief at JeffCo this spring with a 4.67 ERA, opened his Bulls season with a seven-inning complete game at Owensboro, Ky. He allowed just one unearned run in the 10-1 win against the defending KIT League champions, scattering three hits and a walk while striking out five.

"It's a lot easier to pitch to wood bats," Young said.

He is No. 2 in the rotation behind Todd Otto, a freshman at Meramec College in St. Louis County. Otto pitched seven shutout innings Thursday to improve to 2-0. He allowed five hits, seven walks and a hit batsman while striking out three.

The Bulls, who ended a three-game losing streak, played error-free behind Otto.

Among those who contributed defensively was shortstop J.R. Bizzell from Sikeston and Rhodes College.

"Our defense has been a big turning point," said Bulls manager Jamie Puckett, who was an assistant coach last year during a 16-33 campaign. "Pitching, we thought would be our downfall, but our pitching has been our best thing. With a defense like that, you can't ask for anything more."

Young again got to do his charting on the pitching of Otto, who opened by surrendering just three hits over eight innings against Owensboro.

"I could see what their tendencies are and where they like to hit it," Young said. "And I will try to pitch away from that. I got a pretty good idea tonight."

Young was playing American Legion baseball in Cape Girardeau last summer after completing his career at Central, where he was the No. 2 starter in 2006.

"I told myself I would play until they told me I couldn't play anymore," he said. "I want to pitch more at JeffCo next season and then maybe go to SEMO or a four-year university after that."

He expects a good rooting section tonight. His father runs the music and does the public-address announcing for the Bulls, and his sister ran the scoreboard.

"I'm excited about [Friday]," he said. "I have a lot of family and friends coming down."

The Bulls have a couple other local players on the roster as well -- Notre Dame's Jeremy Brinkmeyer, a sophomore pitcher from Shawnee; and Kelly grad Jonathan Simpher, whose older brother Justin is an assistant coach.