Lakewood – Chris Anderson was as smooth and calm as Saturday’s near-perfect afternoon.
With a subtle breeze circulating the aromas off the grill, and a crowd letting its white flesh out for the winter, the Bear Creek pitcher threw strikes and made a 2-1 victory over Heritage look easy.
The senior left-hander warranted just one visit to the mound during his complete game and scattered eight hits, struck out six and walked just two Eagles for the Class 5A nonleague victory – Anderson’s first of the season.
“We just keep the pressure low on ourselves and just go out and compete every day,” Anderson said afterward while enjoying a hamburger. “We just play baseball and try to keep mental errors to a minimum.”
Mental toughness seems to be one thing the Bears (4-0) have demonstrated exceptionally well early on. Saturday’s victory was their third by a single run. Their biggest margin of victory? Two runs.
“I think it will help us with league play,” Bears coach Brad Kidwell said. “They can play a close game and now they know they can win a close game.”
It was needed against the Eagles (1-1-1), who outhit their hosts 8-4 and squandered strong performances from starting pitcher Kyle Young and reliever Greg Wetterlin.
Young took the loss after walking two batters to lead off the fifth inning in a 1-1 game. A throwing error on shortstop Brian Dean, who was trying to turn Heritage’s second double play of the game, allowed Brian Joy to score the game-winner from third.
Young gave up just four hits but got into trouble with six walks, including three in the bottom of the first inning that helped the Bears take a 1-0 lead.
Anderson’s looping curveball was his best of three pitches, as he kept the Eagles generally out of sync.
“He’s a crafty little guy out there,” Eagles coach Nick Arcuri said. “He does a good job.”
Heritage 001 000 0 – 1 8 1
Bear Creek 100 010 x – 2 4 1
Heritage – Dean ss 4-1-3-1, Schulthies 3b 4-0-0-0, Mueller cf 4-0-0-0, Murray dh 3-0-2-0, Young sp 0-0-0-0, Durrant 1b 2-0-0-0, Ramsey 1b 1-0-0-0, Meacham lf 3-0-1-0, Ortivez c 3-0-2-0, Miller rf 2-0-0-0, Blanding 2b 2-0-0-0, Kazakoff ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 29-1-8-1.
Bear Creek – Joy 2b 2-1-0-0, Ferguson cf 1-1-1-0, Mattingly 3b 3-0-2-0, Daniels c 3-0-0-0, Anderson p 1-0-0-0, Parthmuller dh 1-0-0-1, Corley 1b 0-0-0-0, Nelson lf 3-0-1-0, Lgunhog ss 3-0-0-0, Rains rf 3-0-0-0, Mackelberg cr 0-0-0-0, Telford cr 0-0-0-0. Totals 20-2-4-1.
E – Dean, Rains. LOB – Heritage 8, Bear Creek 7. DP – Heritage. SB – Joy.
2B – Murray. HR – Dean (solo in third).
Batteries – Young, Wetterlin (5) and Ortivez; Anderson and Daniels. W – Anderson (1-0). L – Young (0-1). T – 1:34.
