He got the big hit. He gave up only two hits. And he and his teammates got one of the things they’d been looking for ever since they were freshmen.
Lima Central Catholic left-hander Dru Smith pitched a two-hit shutout when Lima Central Catholic beat Shawnee 4-0 in high school baseball on Wednesday at LCC. He drove in the only runs the Thunderbirds needed with a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning.
And he and his senior teammates celebrated their first career win over Shawnee.
“We haven’t beaten them in high school so our five seniors got together before the game and said, ‘We’re not letting these dudes beat us again.’ It was a great win for us,” Smith said.
Smith struck out six, walked one batter and gave up just one hit after Shawnee’s Logan Maxwell lined a hard single off him to start the game.
“I thought ‘Here we go again,’ because in the past they’ve rocked me. I thought, ‘This is not going to happen again,’ ” he said.
From there, Smith shut down every Shawnee attempt to put together a rally. The Indians (8-7) had only one hit and three baserunners after Maxwell’s lead off hit.
Smith said his curve ball was his go-to pitch. “My change up wasn’t working. I was working curve ball and fast ball,” he said.
Shaun Thomas started the second inning for the Thunderbirds with an infield single. After two outs, Dominic Riepenhoff walked and Smith launched a line drive to the warning track in left center field to score both of them.
LCC (10-2) added two more runs in the fourth inning, which started with Brayden O’Dell and Sammy Santaguida drawing walks. O’Dell scored on a throwing error on a bunt by Riepenhoff, then Santaguida scored on a ground out by Brendan Stolly.
The Thunderbirds got only three hits off Shawnee pitcher Jared Thomas in what coach John Schnieders described as an “efficient” performance.
“This is a big win for our guys. We have traditionally struggled against Shawnee and our kids came out and played an efficient game – making the most of the opportunities we had. It was a good, intense atmosphere that hopefully will pay off for us down the road,” he said.
“Today was about Dru Smith. He got the big hit early to put us up and then, as he has been the last three years, he was really good.
“We’ve had a bunch of guys throw really well this year. He got on a roll and was efficient. After that first inning he really settled in and really had them off balance. He’s definitely one of our best. We’re looking to ride him and some of these other pitchers we’ve got for the rest of the year,” Schnieders said.
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