Bradley Harrison throws one-hitter, strikes out 12 as O’Fallon blanks Belleville East 4-0

O’Fallon’s offense mustered just three singles Thursday against Belleville East, but with senior left-hander Bradley Harrison on the mound, it was a moot point.

Harrison fired a one-hitter at the Lancers, walking five and striking out 12 as the Panthers downed the Lancers 4-0 in a Southwestern Conference game at Blazier Field.

The Panthers gave Harrison (5-0) all the support he needed in the first, scoring four runs without the benefit of a hit. O’Fallon (11-3, 3-1) capitalized on four consecutive game-opening walks by sophomore lefty Ben Cruikshank and a throwing error by third baseman Jalen Jones.

“I felt good,” said Harrison, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale recruit. “I got about a week off just to kind of recover and relax. I came out and felt the best I have this year. I did kind of lose it there for a few innings, but I toughed threw it and played the game. I tried to throw hard, throw strikes. Throwing strikes is more important than velocity.”

Harrison, who also picked off a runner, said the big early lead enabled him to settle in.

“It gives you a nice little cushion to work with,” he said. “You’ve still got to try to put them away right away, which I don’t think we did. But I thought we still competed well.”

O’Fallon coach Jason Portz liked what he saw from Harrison, who walked two in the fifth and three more in the sixth before a visit with pitching coordinator Nick Seibert reversed the trend.

“All of his pitches were sharp,” Portz said. “He had a little spell there where Coach Seibert felt like he was trying to mix his timing up a little bit and trying to find a rhythm. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes you’re just trying to find your zone. He battled through it. He had some giddy-up on his fastball and his breaking ball was getting a lot of swings and misses.”

The Lancers’ lone hit was a one-out double to left in the second by senior Alex Phillips. Senior Patrick Gaul lined out hard to left to end East’s third.

“(Harrison) did a good job on the mound today,” Lancers coach Ryan Wiggs said. “Almost every hitter, he was ahead of. That makes it hard to hit when you’re behind in the count.”

East fell to 8-6 and 1-3 and will play host Mount Vernon at 4:15 p.m. Friday.

Key sequence

Cruikshank walked Dillon Weiss to open the Panthers first, and Weiss promptly stole second. Jared Dalonzo, Harrison and Camden Bauer also coaxed walks, witih Bauer’s forcing in Weiss with the only run O’Fallon would prove to need.

Joe Guithues’ sacrifice fly drove in Dalonzo to make it 2-0. Jones then threw wildly to first after fielding Bradley Snyder’s grounder, allowing courtesy runner Christian Koechner to score.

Wiggs lifted Cruikshank for junior Cody Freppon, another left-hander. Freppon struck out Nick Boone, but the ball rolled a few feet in back of the plate. Lancers catcher Ricky Dambacher retrieved it and threw to first for the out, but Bauer scored on the play to make it 4-0.

The Panthers stole three bases in the first.

“More and more, this game is a game of pitching and defense,” Portz said. “I felt we were better in both sides of the game today. ... You’ve got to take what’s given to you, and our hitters did a good job of that. I’m happy with our effort. I’m looking for our guys to break out pretty soon. Offensively, we’re a team that’s waiting to happen.”

A bright spot for the Lancers was Freppon, who worked 5 2/3 shutout innings and scattered three singles. Freppon walked one and struck out seven.

“I just came out throwing strikes, hoping my defense was going to back me up,” Freppon said. “I got into some little jams, but got out of them throwing strikes. I hope we can build off this and come out in the next conference game (Tuesday at Edwardsville) and get a ‘W.’”

Millas getting closer

East senior catcher Drew Millas missed his seventh consecutive game. Millas, who has signed with Missouri State, rolled an ankle March 28 against Wesclin and still is not ready to play.

“We’re missing Drew, for sure, but Ricky does a good job back there,” Wiggs said. “We have that attitude of no excuses, and I’ve not heard one guy using (Millas’ absence) as an excuse, so I’m proud of them for that.

“We’re really looking day to day right now. Every day, we check (Millas’) progress and see where we’re at. I know he felt better today than he did yesteday, and that’s all I care about right now. It’s early in the season. He’ll be back.”

Portz knows East will be ready for the rematch against O’Fallon on May 3 in Belleville.

“Drew’s the leader of their team,” Portz said. “We know they’re certainly going to be a different team the next time we play them. He’s a quality player, he’s a quality person. He brings different leadership to their team. If Drew Millas is in their lineup, they’ve got a lot more confidence and they feel like they can do some different things.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Bradley Harrison throws one-hitter, strikes out 12 as O’Fallon blanks Belleville East 4-0."