Apr 10, 2013 3 min read

HOUSTON – You didn’t need a radar gun to determine the quality and effectiveness of the pitchers.

With Washington High School’s Jonathan Spina and Chartiers-Houston’s Alec Ferrari on the mound, it wasn’t about throwing hard. It was about the other things a pitcher can use to be effective: location, movement, changing speeds and – most import of all – savvy.

Spina and Ferrari were two confident pitchers working on their craft Wednesday afternoon.

And when they stopped putting zeroes on the scoreboard, Spina and Wash High prevailed. He led the short-handed Prexies to a 3-1 victory in a key Section 2-AA baseball victory.

A thin left-handed sophomore, Spina threw his second consecutive complete game as Wash High remained unbeaten (4-0) in section play. While Spina scattered eight hits, he issued only one walk and thwarted numerous C-H threats as the Bucs went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

Spina pounded the strike zone early in the game, using C-H aggressiveness at the plate against the Bucs.

“I noticed they were swinging at the first pitch early in the game, so I started throwing off the plate early in the count and throwing first-pitch offspeed pitches,” Spina said.

Whatever Spina threw, he did so with confidence and command. That confidence was developed from working in the offseason with former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chris Peters, who made a living as a crafty lefty pitcher in the major leagues.

“He worked with me on technique,” Spina said. “Because of that, I’m throwing more strikes and throwing harder.”

Spina improved his record to 3-0 and is a much-improved pitcher over the one that tossed only 17 innings as a freshman.

“He’s so efficient. His command and poise are so far beyond his years,” Wash High coach Rocky Plassio said.

Wash High, which was without leadoff hitter Jordan Allen and cleanup hitter Jaylin Kelly, staked Spina to 2-0 lead in the first inning. Both runs were unearned, the result of Lincoln Key’s towering popup directly over the mound on the windy day being dropped for a two-out error, allowing Chris Gouin to score the game’s first run.

Jesse Spara followed with a double down the left-field line – the game’s only extra-base hit – that scored Guy Markley.

After the first inning, Ferrari matched Spina pitch for pitch. Ferrari threw a five-hitter and walked only one.

“That was a pitchers’ duel,” C-H coach Adam Petras said. “Those are two really good pitchers.”

Wash High (5-1 overall) pushed its lead to 3-0 in the third when Jordan Mooney reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Key’s line-drive single down the left-field line.

C-H (2-2, 4-4) pulled to within 3-1 when Doug DiNardo, who was hit by a pitch, scored on Dylan Pounds’ sacrifice fly to deep center field in the fifth.

The Bucs put two runners on base with two outs in the seventh, but Spina got a game-ending ground ball.

“I didn’t think about bringing in another pitcher in the seventh,” Plassio said. “I wouldn’t want anyone but Spina out there. It’s very impressive how mature and savvy he is.”