Madison's Ian Clarkin took the loss Thursday in a duel featuring two of the nation's best senior pitchers.
Photo by Kirt Winter
Evidently the ticket takers weren't checking for guns at Cathedral Catholic's baseball field Thursday.
Stephen Gonsalves earned the victory.
Photo by Kirt Winter
Scouts from across the nation flooded the stands as
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) battled
Madison (San Diego) in a battle of two of the top pitchers in the nation: Cathedral Catholic's
Stephen Gonsalves and Madison's
Ian Clarkin.
Gonsalves definitely had the better outing, as his Dons won 4-1 in the City Conference Tournament.
Gonsalves earned the win with six innings and six strikeouts to go against three hits and two walks,
according to stats supplied to MaxPreps. Clarkin took the loss with a 4 1/3-inning effort that included eight hits, four runs and seven strikeouts.
According to U-T San Diego, Gonsalves was clocked in the 88-90 mph range and Clarkin was in the 90-93 range.
Ian Clarkin runs to third base in a 4-1loss Thursday.
Photo by Kirt Winter
“We have the same approach to go after the hitters,"
Clarkin told U-T San Diego. "I get more strikeouts, and that drives my pitch count up and gets me out of games sooner. Stephen gets more ground balls and stays in games longer.
“We were both looking forward to this. There was a lot of friendly texting going on before the game.
“Having all the scouts here was truly a blessing. It’s special. Having the attention on you is special. But I’m frustrated because we came up short. The game is a team thing, so I take the loss to heart.”
Each pitcher also got at least one hit off the other. Clarkin was 1-for-3 and Gonsalves smacked a single and a double off Clarkin.
Stephen Gonsalves rapped two base hitsoff Clarkin, including a double.
Photo by Kirt Winter
Gonsalves is the
No. 21-ranked senior prospect by MaxPreps and Clarkin is No. 16.
Cathedral Catholic scored twice in the third inning and Madison responded with a run in the fourth, but the Dons got two more in the fifth to forge the final score.
Brady Aiken and
Hayden Grant knocked in runs in the Dons third, and Aiken plated another in the fifth with a sacrifice fly before another run scored on a double steal.
“Both pitchers have been in big games,” Cathedral Catholic coach Gary Remiker said. “I think they handled the stress very well. Ian Clarkin is the best pitcher we’ve faced and probably the best pitcher we will face.”
