ROWLEY — With the top playoff seed assured, the Rowley Intertown baseball team took on Hamilton at Eiras Park last night and showed no rust, shutting out the Generals on the right arm of Mike Sloban, 3-0.
"I needed a start like this," said Sloban, who went six complete innings, throwing 85 pitches, three for hits, with five strikeouts and one walk. "I struggled a little bit the last few starts, but it felt good to have the last few starts behind me, and I feel good going forward."
Sloban started the top of the first inning by allowing Jim Love to reach on a single but began clamping down after that, going 1-2-3 for the next two frames. The Rams' offense struck early, as well.
The bottom of the first saw Jordan Silva leading things off with a single off Devon Keller. Silva then stole second and third base and was scored by a double to center, courtesy of Koby Thibault. A single to left from Kyle McElroy plated Thibault.
Keller settled down after that, holding the Rams to the two runs. But Sloban was right there with him, finding himself in a jam in the top of the sixth. With runners on second and third and two away, a long fly ball to right from Bryan Vitale began dropping quick in front of fielder Andrew Barba.
But Barba was quicker than the ball, making a sliding grab to keep the Generals scoreless.
"I didn't even have a clue it was coming at me," Barba said of his outfield antics. "It was like a check swing. I kind of ran in, got a stiff flat, caught it. So, I'm happy to catch it."
Barba got it done from the plate in the bottom of the frame, plating McElroy from third with a sacrifice fly for the Rams' final run.
"I didn't think it was far enough to get him in," Barba said. "So, I was kind of disappointed. Luckily, (McElroy) had the speed to get home. It felt good. I've been out for a week, so to come back and get a win felt good."
"I'm my own worst enemy out there," Sloban said. "I try to stay ahead of guys, and I had to pitch behind a few guys. Got my off-speed over, did what was best, got the job done."
"Tonight's a really good win," said Rams coach Jeff Wood. "This week is kind of tough; we're not really playing for anything right now. We've locked up the No. 1 seed, and right now, it's about staying sharp. I gave the ball to Mike, knowing that we'd take it pretty much as far as he would allow it to go. He kept his pitch count down, and I thought he threw a heck of a game. He seemed to be in command pretty much from the first inning on, and the bats got just enough done to get it done."
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