The Bradford Owls just may have the hottest starting pitching in District 9.
For the third consecutive game, an Owls (7-6) starter has gone at least six innings to lead his team to victory. This time it was Peyton Manion, who allowed just two earned runs to stifle DuBois and pilot Bradford to a 6-4 win on Monday.
Manion, who began Bradford’s current three-game win streak with a shutout victory over Brookville last Wednesday, was at it again against the Beavers (2-11). The sophomore gave up just four runs and three hits before getting pulled after getting into a jam in the seventh inning.
Over his last two starts, Manion has allowed just seven hits in 12 1/3 innings of work.
“Today’s game starts and ends with Peyton,” Bradford head coach Andy Carlson said. “He was great today and gave us the chance to win and then some.”
After giving up 20 runs to St. Marys in a loss last Tuesday, Bradford starters have allowed just five runs combined over the past three games.
“Good starting pitching makes coaching easy,” Carlson said. “It makes you look like a genius when your starting pitching goes six, seven innings and only gives up a run or two. It’s just a testament to the guys that go out there and throw. I know we have the ability to throw the ball well. We hadn’t really done it until the last couple of games, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
As good as Manion’s start was, the three biggest outs recorded by a Bradford pitcher on Monday were from Adam Boyer.
Manion walked the first two DuBois batters to begin the top of the seventh. With the top of the Beaver order coming up, Carlson turned to Boyer to contain a potential comeback.
Despite allowing an RBI single to the first batter he faced, Boyer settled in with the help of some solid defense to get the next three batters out and prevent DuBois from doing any further damage.
“Adam came in and threw strikes,” Carlson said. “He gave up a hit, but he attacked and that’s exactly what you need. You can’t walk anybody else there and he put the fire out. We had a heck of a defensive play at the end after a bad start to that play.”
Remarkably, Manion and Boyer combined to only strike out just two batters on the day. All of those balls in play tested Bradford’s defense, which in turn struggled. The Owls committed three errors in the game, including a dropped fly ball in the sixth inning that allowed the Beavers to score their first two runs of the game.
The Owls made up for that shaky fielding with a solid day at the plate. Bradford was able to build a 5-0 lead in the early innings because of some aggressive fielding and base running from the top of its order.
Senior Dan Manion capped off the early offense with a solo home run to left field in the third inning. However, it was Tyler Gigliotti who spearheaded the Bradford offense.
The sophomore had four of Bradford’s nine hits in the game, and drove in a critical insurance run with an RBI double in the fourth inning. Gigliotti now has hits in five consecutive games.
“We have worked a little bit on him just shifting his weight (at the plate),” Carlson said. “He had been hitting off his backside but he adjusted and he just drove the ball all over the field today. He had two hits to left and I think the other two were to right. That’s exactly what you want from a leadoff guy. He can run, he can steal bases and just an overall great game.”
Monday’s win starts an important and busy week for Bradford, which plays five games in six days. The stretch of games will be capped off with a trip to Cooperstown to play Otto-Eldred on Saturday.
AT BRADFORD
R H E
DuBois 000 002 2 4 4 2
Bradford 202 101 X 6 9 3
Garrett Starr (2 SO, 2 BB), Dayne Bauman (4) (1 SO, 1 BB), Eric Schneider (6), and Jordan Frano
Peyton Manion (2 SO, 4 BB), Adam Boyer (7), and Caleb Nuzzo
HR: Dan Manion (Bradford)
