Nova Rides Barrows’ Arm To Shutout Victory

A lot of times in baseball, the pitcher has his defense to thank for limiting damage.

But sometimes, it goes the other way.

In Nova’s 4-0 district win over McArthur on Thursday night, senior right-hander Bryan Barrows allowed just two hits over five shutout innings, an effort that more than made up for the five errors committed behind him.

“I got ahead in the count and my off-speed was on,” Barrows said after his victory. “My defense kept me in in the game at some points and let me down some times. I picked them up and got the W, that’s all that matters.”

The Titans (2-1, 2-0), realizing that the Mustangs (2-2, 1-1) had somehow overcome multiple errors in Tuesday’s victory over St. Thomas, came out aggressively on the base paths in the first inning.

The move paid off as they scored two unearned runs off McArthur starter Michael Velez by taking advantage of some errant throws and general sloppiness.

Barrows, meanwhile, was far from sloppy as his slider consistently hit the strike zone, which opened up his ability to keep hitters off balance with his curveball and fastball, the latter which he rarely had to use.

And it was a good thing Barrows was on his game, as his defense tried to make things difficult for him with several fielding errors.

His biggest jam came in the third inning when two mistakes and a walk loaded the bases with only one out. But he struck out opposite number Velez and got Michael Bosco to fly out, ending the threat and the inning.

In the top of the sixth, Barrows would get a little more breathing room when senior third baseman Gabriel Valverde ended Velez’s night with a two-run blast to left-center field.

“We tried to extend him an extra inning, which I shouldn’t have,” Mustangs manager Brian Clark said about Velez, who allowed only three hits. “Michael threw all three pitches for strikes, but we just left too many guys on base tonight. We can’t do that and win.”

Other than Valverde’s blast, there wasn’t much else to speak of offensively in this pitchers’ duel, as Nova’s Brandon McCalla was the only player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a double.

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