Sinclair coach Steve Dintaman mentioned he might have to plug sophomore pitcher Erik Lamka into the back-end of the double headers from here on out.
“When (Lamka) throws game one, his whole family leaves game two,” he said. “That’s 80 percent of our crowd.”
Lamka did not disappoint his large fan base.
In game one of Sinclair’s doubleheader with conference foe Cuyahoga Community College, the six-foot, 220-pound sophomore-known as “Donkey” by his teammates-pitched a three-hit, complete game shutout in a 3-0 win.
Lamka saw his record jump to 4-2 with a 5.86 ERA. Lamka was recently named Pitcher of the Week in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference.
“On the mound, pitching was outstanding,” Sinclair coach Steve Dintaman said. “Erik threw very well.”
Fellow sophomore Ryan Knisley came out in game two and continued to fool Cuyahoga hitters.
Knisley, a six-foot, 172-pound left-hander, allowed two hits and one unearned run in a complete game win to secure his fourth win of the year. This time, though, the Pride’s offense came alive with 13 hits and 11 runs.
“He’s really established himself as one of our best starters,” Dintaman said of Knisley. “He’s stepped up to the plate and done a great job.”
Knisley improved to 4-1 with a 4.45 ERA.
Fastball hunters
The Pride isn’t known for their light-hitting ways. After scoring 210 runs in 26 game (averaging eight runs per contest), Dintaman still believes there is room to improve.
“We’re not as aggressive as we were earlier in the year,” he said. “We’re taking too many fastballs.”
As a result for the lack of aggression at the plate, Dintaman had to find a way to relay the message to his players.
“I was thinking about hunting fastballs one day and the Croc Hunter hit me,” he said.
A few Photoshop clicks later resulted in a photo of Steve Irwin wrestling a fastball. Dintaman plans on posting the flyers in the dugouts during games.
“We’re trying to motivate guys to be more aggressive,” Dintaman said.
“A little payback”
On March 26, the Pride traveled west to Indiana to battle Vincennes University in a doubleheader. And it was ugly.
“They beat us pretty handedly when we went down to their place,” Dintaman said.
The Trailblazers crushed Sinclair with a 10-2 win in the first game and a 9-1 victory in game two.
“We’ve got to come out with a better approach with the bat,” Dintaman said. “That’s going to be a big game for us to protect our perfect home record.”
As of April 10, Sinclair’s record at home was at a flawless 13-0.