Haviland bests Fraudin, Wild Things
Dillon Haviland’s family and friends arrived early Sunday at Consol Energy Park, enjoyed quite the tailgate party in the parking lot and then cheered wildly – one person even brought a cowbell to ring – as the former South Fayette High School standout played against the Wild Things.
Haviland, a starting pitcher for the Gateway Grizzlies, made sure all those people had plenty to cheer about and went home happy.
Pitching for the first time as a starter in Western Pennsylvania since his high school days, Haviland threw six shutout innings and Gateway hit three solo homers en route to a 5-0 victory in the finale of a three-game series.
Haviland (2-2), who recently concluded his college eligibility at Duke, was making only his sixth professional start and it was his best. He scattered five hits and three walks but allowed only one Wild Things baserunner to reach third base. He left the game with a 3-0 lead.
“Pitching at Duke, you know the parents and family of your teammates, and they seem like your own family,” Haviland said. “But pitching here is different. There wasn’t a pressure to do well with everybody here, but there was more of an excitement. … it seemed like a home game.”
It was a better experience than the last time he pitched in the area. That was last year as a relief pitcher for Duke. On a cold March day at Pitt, Haviland gave up four runs in two innings.
Against the Wild Things, Haviland didn’t overpower hitters – he had only one strikeout – but was able to get outs when needed. The biggest came in the sixth with Gateway leading 2-0. The Wild Things loaded the bases with on a single by Sam Mende and two walks, but Haviland got Matt Peters to fly out to left field to end the threat and Haviland’s outing.
“I couldn’t have gone another inning,” Haviland admitted. “This was the first time since high school that I had two starts in a week. In my first few starts, I was questioning if I belonged here. I had to get adjusted to the atmosphere of pro baseball and the speed of the game, but I’m getting more comfortable.”
Haviland also gained bragging rights over a former teammate. Haviland and Washington starter Matt Fraudin (2-2), an Upper St. Clair native, were teammates on a travel baseball team when they were teenagers. The team was called the Little Wild Things and played at Consol Energy Park.
Fraudin also pitched well but gave up the solo homers to Tyler Tewell, the Grizzlies’ catcher. Tewell homered down both foul lines. He gave Gateway a 1-0 lead in the fifth with an opposite-field shot that just missed hitting the screen on the left-field foul pole. Tewell homered again leading off the seventh, hitting Fraudin’s last pitch of the game down the right-field line for a 3-0 Grizzlies lead.
Gateway scored again in the seventh, and former West Virginia University third baseman Grant Bucker hit his second solo homer of the series in the eighth.
Haviland’s performance came on the heels of another Pennsylvania native beating the Wild Things. Vince Molesky of Montoursville in central Pennsylvania pitched 7 2/3 innings in the Grizzlies’ 3-2 win Saturday night.
The losses put a damper on what had been a good homestand for Washington. The Wild Things swept Windy City and won the series opener over Gateway.
“I couldn’t wait for the last two games after winning the first four,” Washington manager Bob Bozzuto said. “Then we didn’t hit the ball until the ninth inning Saturday and then not at all in this game.”
Bozzuto said the Wild Things’ hitters swung at too many pitchews out of the strike zone Saturday, but that wasn’t the case against Haviland.
“His ball was moving,” Bozzuto said. “For whatever reasons, we didn’t hit anything hard.
“Matt did a good job pitching for us. It has been characteristic of us not to score runs. It makes it tough when you have to throw a complete-game shutout. If you don’t score, then you’re not going to win.”
It was only the third road series win for Gateway. The other two were against Normal, the West Division leader. … Washington is 1-8 in Sunday home games. … Washington relief pitcher Tim Giel played on the Shady Side Academy team that eliminated Haviland’s South Fayette team in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs in 2009.