Perhaps you've heard the rumor that Chambersburg has an ace pitcher in baseball this year.
You may now change the word "rumor" to "fact." Carlisle will certainly back that up.
Tegan Kuhns
And if Friday is any indication, Tegan Kuhns is not the only strong pitcher the Trojans have — Wyatt Kissel put up some great numbers, too.
Chambersburg opened its season with an 8-0 non-league defeat of the Thundering Herd at Greene Township Park as Carlisle totaled one hit, one baserunner and 15 strikeouts.
"We threw strikes all day today, and that's the name of the game," Trojan coach Scott Folmar said.
The stats confirmed that. Kuhns (more on him later) started and went four perfect innings. He allowed no baserunners and struck out eight Herd batters. Kissel pitched the final three innings. He allowed a leadoff base hit to Thomas Davenport — a sharp grounder to left — and then retired the next nine batters, including seven by strikeout.
Kuhns threw 53 pitches and 32 were strikes. Kissel threw 36 pitches and had 28 strikes. That's a mere 89 pitches in seven innings, with 60 hitting the strike zone.
"In our last scrimmage, Kuhns was not as sharp, but what we saw today was what we saw in our winter workouts," Folmar said. "He was pounding the zone with his fastball and then he had his slider and curve working. Kissel was injured last year, and he came in and pounded the strike zone, too. That's what we preach — throw first-pitch strikes and get them to put it in play."
If you want to get picky, the Trojan pitching duo did not follow the last part very well. With all of the strikeouts, Carlisle put the ball in play only six times.
Wyatt Kissel
Kuhns, a sophomore who committed to North Carolina State in August, grew up in Chambersburg through middle school. Last year he moved to Gettysburg and played for the Warriors (1.69 ERA, .190 batting average against). This summer he moved back and will be a welcome addition to a veteran Trojan team. One scouting service had Kuhns ranked as the No. 6 right-handed pitcher in the nation, and No. 1 in Pennsylvania.
The Herd's pitching was not nearly as effective, although Chambersburg managed only five hits. Four Carlisle hurlers combined to give up 11 walks, three hit batters and six wild pitches. The Trojans put 21 runners on base and ended up leaving 11 of them there.
Chambersburg scored three runs on wild pitches, one on a passed ball and one on a walk. Carter Fogal (2-for-4) had RBI double and Kissel (2-for-3) knocked in a pair of runs with a base hit.
Folmar said, "Kissel had a big hit with two outs and the bases loaded, and that kind of blew it open. Fogal hit the ball hard. Our guys were patient and got on base. It's still early and I think we'll hit better."
NOTES: The other Chambersburg hit was a ringing double to deep left by Braden Zeger … Dru Bowling, Fogal and Zeger each scored two runs.
Chambersburg 8, Carlisle 0
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Smith 2b 3 0 0 0 Bowling ss 3 2 0 0
Workman p 0 0 0 0 Fogal 2b 4 2 1 1
Morrow lf 3 0 0 0 Stevens cf 1 1 0 0
Shatto ss 3 0 0 0 Kissel 1b 3 0 2 2
Davenport p 3 0 1 0 Cunha c 2 0 0 0
Stroud cf 2 0 0 0 Methner cr 0 0 0 0
Swartz rf 2 0 0 0 Kuhns p 2 0 0 1
Shank 3b 2 0 0 0 Pattillo cr 0 0 0 0
Sharp 1b 2 0 0 0 Zeger lf 3 2 1 0
Bretz 1b 0 0 0 0 Folmar 3b 3 1 0 0
Kline c 2 0 0 0 Nolan rf 2 0 0 0
Totals 22 0 1 0 Totals 23 8 5 4
Carlisle 000 000 0 — 0
Chambersburg 001 340 x — 8
E — Car 3; Chbg 0. LOB — Car 1; Chbg 11. 2B — Zeger, Fogal. SB — Davenport. SAC — Folmar.
Carlisle Pitching
ip h r er bb so
Davenport (L) 3.2 3 2 2 3 7
Smith 1.1 2 5 4 3 1
Griffie 1 0 1 1 4 0
Worlman 1 0 1 1 1 0
Chambersburg Pitching
Kuhns (W,1-0) 4 0 0 0 0 8
Kissel 3 1 0 0 0 7
HBP — by Davenport (Bowling, Stevens); by Smith (Stevens). WP — Car 6. PB — Car 1.
T — 2:09.
