A little extra practice always seems to help in the long run.
With a chance to play for the District 4 15-year old Tournament Championship on the line, Franklin Township pitcher Dane Ciavarella took some extra warm-up pitches before taking the mound against Blue Valley South yesterday.
"It helped me a lot," said Ciavarella, who worked with pitching coach Ryan Kuehn before the opening game of a double header last night. "We were working on my off-speed pitches and everything else. It definitely helped me though during the game. It made me throw with a little bit more control towards the plate.
"With doing so, I was just able to do my thing out there today."
It more than paid off for Ciavarella as the right-hander struck out five, allowed only four hits and pitched a complete game shutout.
Franklin Township's offense provided enough run support in securing an 8-0 victory over the American Division champion Blue Valley South.
Franklin Township manager Ricky Strohl liked the way the extra work paid off.
"He looked pretty good out there today," said Strohl, who watched Ciavarella throw more warm-up pitches than he did actual pitches in the game. "He threw 75 pitches. And, with that little extra workout there, it helped him be where I wanted him to be during the game. He was definitely on today."
So was Blue Valley South starting pitcher Ryan Pysher over his six