Watterson’s dominance gives Grays Game 1 victory in first round of NUL playoffs
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POCATELLO — Behind a stifling performance from ace Slayder Watterson, the Grays will have two chances at home to get one more victory and advance to the second round of the Northern Utah League playoffs.
Watterson allowed three runs — two earned — Monday night at Halliwell Park, leading the Grays to a 6-3 victory over The Lab.
Perhaps more impressive than pitching through a pair of errors by second baseman Kyler Spracklen was Watterson’s ability to battle through a walk and hit batsmen in the sixth before finishing the seven-inning complete game.
Manager Rhys Pope told EastIdahoNews.com that the starter’s performance put the Grays in position to be very competitive the rest of the week and beyond.
“It was huge. Massive,” Pope said. “Especially when you’re talking about the amount of games that we could play in a short timespan, for a dude to come out — he’s our ace, so he comes out and saves the bullpen. That sets us up for the rest of the week, and then going into next week hopefully.”
Pope had a pair of relievers warming up after Watterson hit a man in the sixth, giving The Lab a scoring chance with two on and one out. But the ace struck out the next batter, then got an assist from catcher Cole Pulliam who cut down Lab third baseman Kyle Bubak attempting to steal third.
Watterson worked around more traffic in the seventh but finished the job preventing the need for a second arm.
“We’ve got to save arms,” Watterson said. “That’s big because we don’t have a ton of pitchers, so for a three-game set you want to have as many guys (ready to pitch) as you can — especially against a team that will grind it out.”
Watterson allowed single runs in the first, third and fourth innings.
The Grays quickly answered the run in the first with their own in the bottom half, after designated hitter Easton Watterson singled to start the game, then stole second and third and scored on a JD Gunderson single.
The Lab held a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom half of the fourth, but Gate City capitalized on some wild pitching and an error from the visiting second baseman to score three and take a 4-3 lead.
Then, in the fifth, the Grays loaded the bases with nobody out for three-hitter, shortstop Tyler Vance.
Vance lined a double just inside the bag at third, scoring a pair and giving Watterson and the Grays much-needed breathing room. Pope called the at-bat “huge.”
“That, kinda, put the nail in the coffin,” he said. “(Vance has) been doing that all year for us, that’s why he’s in the three-hole. I’ve watched that kid play since he was 8 years old and he’s been doing that since he was 8 years old.”
Prior to the game, Pope spoke about the Grays’ recent inability to survive the first round of the playoffs. As for what makes this team different than those of the past two seasons, the skipper said it has everything to do with the team having played through difficult stretches.
“I think we’re more resilient this year,” Pope said. “I think we’ve faced more adversity going into the playoffs and figured out ways to deal with it.”
The Grays and The Lab will meet again Tuesday — first pitch at 7:30 p.m. Because The Lab’s home field is “unavailable,” the game will be played at Halliwell Park, with The Lab batting in the home half of the inning.