David Porta Tosses Four Hitter

David Porta tossed a complete game, seven inning, four hitter Sunday afternoon at Shawnee to pace the Pirates to a 2-1 victory over the Senators. 

Dave Porta works in the first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

The Pirates staked Dave to a 1-0 lead in the second after stranding Chris Gregory on third (after stealing second and third) in the first.  Chris had reached base on a fielder's choice after Brian Hooper had walked.  Jackson Nave led off the second and reached base on a hit by pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on Bobbie Blair's single.  Scotty Irish drove Jackson in with single.

After retiring the first eight batters, Dave gave up a one out double in the third.  A ground out second to first (Bill Keeling to Jackson) moved the runner to third.  A single drove in the Senators only run of the game.  Another single and a throwing error put runners on the corners before the inning was closed out.

In the fourth, a two out single and an error were erased by a ground out to third (Brent Bronte to Jackson).  In the fifth Dave walked the lead off batter, his first walk of the day.  After a conference on the mound, Brent ran down a foul ball near the boundary fence and almost threw out the runner returning to first.  Three pitches later, a line drive to Brent resulted in a double play on the throw to Jackson.

 Brent fields at third and ...
 throws out the runner to Jackson at first.

A two out walk in the sixth was all the Senators could manage and the score after five and a half was 1-1.


The Pirates squandered several chances after their score in the second. In the third, Bill Keeling and Jose Cubero  singled and Jose stole third.  But a pop out and a ground out ended the threat.  In the fourth after two outs, Brent and Bobbie singled and Scotty walked but all three were left on base.

In the bottom of the sixth with two outs, John Denney singled.  Chris went in to run for John and stole second and third.  Jackson followed and struck out on a ball in the dirt.  The catcher attempted to throw out Chris at third but the throw was late and the Pirates had runners on the corners.  Brent singled to left, scoring Chris and the Pirates led 2-1.

In the seventh, Dave struck out the lead off batter and the next two batters flew out to Bill at second to preserve the 2-1 victory.

Dave gave up the four hits, two walks and struck out six.  Twenty of twenty one outs were recorded by infielders.  The one exception was one of three five star defensive plays.  The catch by Brent was one.  A sliding catch of a foul fly by Jackson was one.  The out field put out was a catch by Jose after a long run at the foot of the left field fence. 

The Pirates' record improved to 4-2.