Pitchers lead the way for Post 330

By Jason simcoe

Published: July 9, 2008

Coming into the summer, American Legion Post 330 manager Jeff Crane was worried. He felt pretty good about his team’s ability at the plate, but from where would the pitching come?

A month later, the Culpeper pitchers have put Crane’s concerns to rest.

“Our pitching has really been there for us this year,” Crane said after a 12-10 loss to Warrenton Sunday.

Post 330 (4-7) has had a tough-luck season so far this summer. The team has dropped three one-run games and two two-run games.

But Crane has repeatedly highlighted the pitchers as a stand-out group.

“The pitching has been phenomenal,” he said. “I can’t complain about the pitching at all from any of them.”

Crane’s concern before the season was because of the group’s relative inexperience. With the exception of Matt Ward and Ethan Russell, none of the pitchers had extensive varsity pitching experience at the high school level.

Crane knew he would be relying on younger players such as Geoff Ward, Brian Thompson, Nic Donovan and John Lezcano, most of whom were JV players during the high school season.

They had talent, for sure, but how would they react against the older, more experienced hitters — some who play college ball — they would face during the Legion season?
So far, they’ve reacted just fine.

Geoff Ward pitched a complete-game two hitter earlier this season against Bealeton, striking out seven. So far this summer, the right-hander has a 2.70 ERA.

Hard-throwing Donovan, who spent the spring season with the track team, and Lezcano have flashed live arms, striking out 20 in a combined 14 plus innings.

Perhaps best of all has been Brian Thompson. His 2.08 ERA would rank him sixth in the state, but he’s two-thirds of an inning short of qualifying for the official rankings.

The older guys have been nearly as sharp. Joey Powell has a 4.00 ERA and 11 strike outs in nine innings. Russell has a 3.28 ERA and leads the team in innings pitched at 24 2/3. Matt Ward has been limited by a sore arm this summer, but posted a 3.60 ERA in 35 innings during the high school season.

The reason for success is simple, catcher Nolan Jenkins said. He sees the same thing out of each pitcher when he’s on the mound.

“All of them are hitting their spots,” Jenkins said. “And that’s all we need from pitchers is to hit spots and make (the batters) hit it.”

Jason Simcoe can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or