Tatro Terrific as Drury Tops Hoosac

ADAMS, Mass. -- Jake Tatro was lights out under the lights at Renfrew Park.

 

The Drury High School senior struck out 11 and allowed just three hits and no earned runs in six innings to lead the Blue Devils to an 9-1 win over Hoosac Valley on Saturday night.

 

Tatro got help from a 13-hit Drury attack led by Logan Rumbolt's 3-for-4 with a double and a triple. But Tatro did not need much help as Drury rebounded from a disappointing Friday outing to run its record to 8-2.

 

"We came in with a chip on our shoulders," Tatro said. "We were mad that we lost [to Mount Greylock]. We didn't play the best game [Friday], so we came in with a chip on our shoulders, and I think that's a big reason why we came out so hard this game."

 

Drury scored three in the first and four in the second to take control early on Saturday night.

 

Seven was more than enough the way Tatro was dealing.

 

"That was a superstar senior performance by Jake Tatro," Drury coach Pat Boulger said. "It was one we needed.

 

"I've always had the utmost confidence and respect for Jake Tatro over my years as a coach, and he just showed me again why he's one of our great senior leaders. I'm very lucky to have him, and I can't say enough about him as a player and a person. He's a great student, a great player and a great role model for our program."

 

This winter, Tatro used his ability as a student to learn more about his craft as a pitcher.

 

"I worked real hard on my pitching with coach Mike Gladu over at The Cage," Tatro said. "I did all that, and it really paid off because I've never pitched this well in my life."

 

Tatro struck out the first two men he faced to set the tone for the game. He later struck out the side in order in the bottom of the third.

 

When he dug himself a hole in the fourth by allowing a leadoff triple to J.P. Levesque, Tatro got the next man on a called third strike on the outside corner, got out No. 2 on a looping line drive to first and ended the threat with his eighth K of the game.

 

Hoosac Valley (4-5) picked up an unearned run in the sixth when Matt Koperniak reached on a fielder's choice and came round from first on a two-base error in the outfield.

 

Tatro ended that rally by recording his 11th strikeout with two men on, and then handed the ball to Kody Crosier, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

 

Drury scored two unearned runs of its own in its three-run first. Rumbolt got the rally started with a leadoff single. He moved up on a walk, and Schuyler Robinson's sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position

 

A ground ball brought home Rumbolt with the game's first run, but an error on that play left two on and one out. After Hoosac's Noah Matrigali got out No. 2, Shane Garvey ripped a single that scored two runs.

 

The four-run second was keyed by doubles from Rumbolt and Tatro. Rombolt added an RBI triple in the third to make it 8-0.

 

After Hoosac scored in the sixth, Drury pushed its margin back to eight runs when Thaylen Harrison's sacrifice fly brought home Crosier.

 

"I thought our approach [at the plate] tonight was excellent," Boulger said. "I thought we did a lot of things well tonight. Pitching, fielding, we put the ball in play, we found holes.

 

"And most importantly, this was a huge rebound game for us. Coming off a tough game [Friday] against Greylock, you want to come out and put a good performance up, and we did exactly that."

 

Drury has a showdown with Wahconah on Monday afternoon at Joe Wolfe Field. Hoosac hosts Lenox on Monday.