Braden River tops Southeast behind Ryan Duncan
EAST MANATEE -- Ryan Duncan is trying to make a case that he should be a starting pitcher.
The Braden River junior got his point across when he threw five shutout innings and struck out five in the Pirates' 7-2 victory against visiting Southeast on Wednesday night.
"I would like to start someday. I really enjoy it," Duncan said. "I am hoping for that, maybe next season. It's what I've done growing up and I was a starter on the JV team last year before they brought me up."
The 6-foot-5 right-hander finished strongLY, striking out the side in the fifth. HE retired the last 10 batters he faced.
The main thing holding Duncan out of the starting rotation this year is he has been very effective out of the bullpen, and Pirates head coach Craig Paige considers him his closer.
Duncan came into the game with a 1.91 ERA and picked up his second victory of the week to improve to 4-1. He has 12 strikeouts in 19 innings.
"He's our No. 1 guy out of the bullpen for sure and in weeks like this when we had three games we can plug him to start," Paige said. "We felt confident throwing him out there. He won in relief on Monday. Nothing really fazes him. He goes out there and pounds the strike zone and has a nice little curve ball he can throw for strikes."
Duncan allowed three hits and walked one, all in the first two innings. He had the Southeast batters off balance with a breaking ball that he mixed with his fastball.
"Absolutely see him as a starter. He is a junior so next year we expect him to be one
of those guys for us," Paige said. "He spins the ball pretty well. We are developing his changeup as a third pitch. He fills up the zone and throws strikes and that's what we really like about him."
Braden River (16-6) picked up a run in the second on an RBI single by Collin Goda. The Pirates scored three runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. Gavin Root had RBI singles in both innings and Eric Kimsey coming off the bench had a two run single in the sixth. Andre Fonseca also came off the bench and went 2 for 2.
"We had a plan to get in some guys who haven't had much playing time and I am really proud of how our bench guys come out and put up six runs in two innings," Paige said.
A young Southeast squad (4-10) has been struggling, but put up a fight until the final out scoring two runs in the seventh.
Drew Jankowski got a single after Southeast had put two runners on via an error and a walk. Kevin Vasquez drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Alex Quinones had an RBI single.
"We've had a bit of a roller coaster ride this season, but that is to be expected with a young team," Southeast first year head coach Brett Andrzejewski said. "We've got a real young team and we are getting guys to buy in. The improvement we've made from the beginning of the season it's a like a whole new team. We had a bit of a depleted lineup tonight."
The Seminoles haven't been deep on pitching this season and suffered a disappointing blow when starting pitcher Kevin Lyons had to leave the game in the first inning because of a hip injury.
"Kyle Metters, a sophomore, replaced him was able to step up. He did a good job of keeping them at bay and learned from his mistakes. We didn't give up. It's never fun to lose, but definitely a learning experience," Andrzejewski said.
Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Braden River tops Southeast behind Ryan Duncan ."