Baseball ‘Bows off to good start

Reflection on the ‘Bows’ first two baseball games:

> For the first two games, at least, the starting pitching was impressive. Brendan Hornung struck out nine, matching a career high, in seven innings in the opener. He threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 28 batters he faced. Dominic DeMiero, in his UH debut, followed with Saturday’s victory, allowing one earned run in seven innings. Of note, both had command of their out pitches — Hornung’s split-fingered fastball and DeMiero’s slider. Both also benefited from coach Mike Trapasso’s pitching timetable. Because of the unpredictability of the Christmas break, Trapasso set a goal in which the starters would need to be able to throw up to 30 bullpen-session pitches at the start of spring-semester training. Trapasso increased the limit by 15 pitches each outing until the starters reached about 90 pitches in their final pre-season workouts. Hornung and DeMiero were strong in their outings, even when tested in so-called stress situations.

> The theory is a batter is supposed to get better the second time around the lineup. Hornung and DeMiero applied that theory to themselves, adapting to the batters’ tendencies and approaches the second — and third — time through the order. “I tried to learn from my mistakes,” DeMiero said.

> Dylan Thomas relinquished two home runs in a two-inning relief stint, but he threw hard and in the zone. Twenty-six of his 40 pitches were strikes.

> Dylan Vchulek, who is hitting .500 after two games, appears to be the answer at the top of the order.

> Kekai Rios is the a multi-skilled catcher who bats cleanup, and handles a staff whose repertoire ranges from splitters to knuckleballs.