Davis dominates after shaky first inning

Davis in his windup. /Crowley Photo

Nerves and a sellout Recreation Field crowd got to Vermont starter Ryan Davis, and he spotted Laconia three runs in a 33-pitch first inning. However, the junior from Le Moyne outdueled Jack English over the next five 2/3 innings and his teammates rallied around him for a late win.

Entering yesterday's game, the pitching matchup was a potential mismatch. English had locked down the Mountaineers over seven shutout innings in his last start, while Davis has been up and down this season after winning Pitcher of the Week honors to start the summer.

Turn's out that it wasn't a mismatch, but not the way you would've expected. Davis bounced back from the shaky first inning- in which saw manager Joe Brown come out to the mound and silenced a sellout crowd of 1,521- and retired 14 in a row and pitched into the seventh. Throw in a seven-run seventh from his teammates, who figured out English the third time through the lineup and chased him as well as two other pitchers, and we got a blowout. Vermont 9, Laconia 3

Davis had his offspeed working after the first inning, and he attacked the strikeout-prone Muskrats with the finesse of a surgeon. He struck out Jack Sunberg on a changeup, a pitch he felt he had rare command of, that made him look silly, and then struck out five guys over the next five innings to bring his total to six on the night.

"I was locating my pitches," Davis said. "I tried to keep them off balance and it was great to have an excellent defense behind me."

He didn't get a win, however, leaving at 117 pitches in the seventh after loading the bases as he struggled for the first time since the first inning. Davis's teammate, Sam Spencer, got him out of the jam with a groundout and he finished with a game score (Bill James) of 57.

Davis has now turned in four consecutive quality starts and has emerged as one of many aces on the Vermont team after struggling over back-to-back starts after winning pitcher of the week. He gave up nine runs, six earned, over just nine innings in matchups against Valley and Laconia. He combined to allow 22 hits and walk four.

"I had a rough game after my first start," Davis continued. "But since then, I feel like I've bounced back nicely and gotten used to pitching to the hitters in this league and really trusting my pitches."

He did need 117 pitches, so he's ruled out until the championship series- where Davis could make a start if the Mountaineers get there. With the way he's pitching, Vermont has a talented group of starters who can go deep in games and really help in these playoffs for the bullpen to get rest.