Baseball: Oratory Prep Continues Hot Streak by Beating Union, 7-0

UNION, NJ — For a baseball team that didn't score a run, Union got the fat part of the barrel on a lot of pitches Wednesday.But, an inordinate number of times that the Farmers hit the ball hard, Oratory Prep fielders made the plays, no matter how difficult they were.Indeed, if someone is looking for a sleeper team to make a deep run in the upcoming Union County Tournament, they'd be advised to take a long look at Oratory.Sparked by its spectacular defense, Oratory continued its recent tear with a 7-0 victory over Union.Oratory (7-6) has won six of its last seven games after starting the season 0-4. Union (7-9) has already exceeded last year's win total.Consider how the game started for Union's batting order. Leading off in the bottom of the first, Mark Womack pulverized a long drive to deep right-center field, only to see Oratory right fielder Vincenzo Luaces run it down with a great catch.It went that way most of the day for Union's hitters against Oratory starting pitcher Jacob Minnefor — who went five innings — and reliever Bo Ren Chen, both sophomores.But Union made its share of crisp plays in the field, too, behind freshman right-handed starter Jayden Veras, who came into the game with a 0.00 earned-run average in 17 innings and then started this game with three more scoreless innings. Veras got notable defensive support from Union shortstop Johnny Velez, who started two 6-6-3 double plays in the first three innings.Veras and Minnefor breezed through the first three innings like they were double-parked, they worked so fast and so efficiently. But the Rams broke through with two runs in the fourth inning. After leadoff batter Devon Mulvaney was hit by a pitch, Logan Costello beat out a slow grounder to shortstop on a play in which he was initially called out at first base, before, on appeal, the plate umpire said the first baseman's foot was off the bag. It was a critical reversal of the call, because the next batter, Blake Duddy, hit an RBI double to deep right field, and Patrick Keown followed with an RBI single on a seeing-eye grounder through the right side to make it 2-0.Veras came out of the game after four innings with a left (non-throwing) shoulder issue. He struck out two and walked none, allowing his first two earned runs of the year on five hits. He has a 0.67 ERA now, with six walks in 21 innings this season."It was something in his left shoulder," Union head coach Lou Clemente said about his talented freshman pitcher. "His right shoulder has been bothering him a little bit. He got it checked out. We gave him a week and a half of rest, and now, all of a sudden, something in the left shoulder blade was bothering him. I don't know if it was from a mechanical flaw or issue, but I don't know what the actual diagnosis is yet. He was throwing the ball well. He's been throwing strikes all year, and he looked very much as he usually does. I didn't really have any plan on taking him out. It was not pitch count (as the reason Veras came out of the game)."Oratory didn't draw a walk all day, but the Rams swung the bat with authority, adding three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth. Sophomore shortstop Brendan Keown had an exceptional game in the field and went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Costello was 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the fifth.Womack, robbed of an extra-base hit in the first inning, was victim of more larceny in the fifth, when his hard shot up the middle was turned into an inning-ending double play by Brendan Keown, who made a diving stop before stepping on second base and throwing on to first."Womack had a great swing," Clemente said. "(Oratory) is a solid team, and they're young, too. Their sophomore class is really, really good, and their shortstop's a great player. They played really clean defense and got some big hits in big spots."Four of Union's last six outs in the sixth and seventh innings were on hard-hit balls.Clemente is in his third season as Union's head coach, and the progress of the program has been measurable.Oratory is in its first year under the direction of head coach Mike Murray Jr., who had a successful stint at St. Joseph of Metuchen before serving as an assistant at Millburn last season and then taking the Oratory job before this year.On Friday, Union will host a makeup game against Cranford. The two teams started a game on Saturday that was called in the bottom of the second inning with Cranford holding a 2-0 lead.The Union County Tournament will hold its seeding meeting next Monday.ORATORY (7-6) 000 232 0 -- 7 12 0UNION (7-9) 000 000 0 - 0 5 1WP-MinneforLP-Veras