LORAIN — Thomas Holloway gave Lorain just what the doctor ordered.
Take two bases and call in the morning.
Holloway’s three-run double was the big blow in Lorain’s 6-3 victory over Amherst in a non-conference doubleheader Saturday.
“I had a headache at the start of the game,” Holloway said. “But when I went into second base, the headache went away.”
The bases-loaded smash, over the head of Amherst left fielder Corey Stamco, gave the Titans a 4-2 lead. The 0-2 pitch from Jake Waryu, who came on for starter Kyle Tucker, was a hanging curveball.
“It looked like a knuckleball, because it had no rotation,” Holloway said. “It came in belt-high and I gave it a ride.”
Amherst earned a split, winning the second game 8-1 behind the complete-game pitching of Brandon Chesmar.
The first-game victory went to Ralph McCue, who pitched 52⁄3 innings before giving way to Caomhan O’Connor, who picked up his third save of the year.
“Ralph did a real nice job,” Lorain coach Brad Ternes said. “He threw strikes and took us into the sixth.
“He did all that we could expect of him.”
O’Connor, who had not played for his school team in two years, worked out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth.
“His role is relief and he accepts it,” Ternes said of O’Connor. “He has pitched very well in the couple of times we’ve used him.”
The split left Lorain with a 6-2 record.
Amherst took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opening game when Garrett Mullins’ infield hit sent Aaron Bledsoe home. The Comets made the score 2-0 in the third on singles by Maximo Meggitt and Connor Morris and a sacrifice fly by Justin Mott.
Tucker walked the first three batters in the bottom of the third inning. Nic Billingsley was struck with a pitch to make the score 2-1 before Holloway’s double brought in three.
The Titans added a run in the fifth inning on a double steal, as Desmond Guice stole second and Collin Bryant swiped home on the throw to try to catch Guice at second. Lorain scored its final run when Antoine Edwards doubled and Billingsley delivered a two-out triple.
“I think the story line was Lorain’s situational hitting,” Amherst coach Al McConihe said. “We left a few too many (runners) on base. Sure, our pitcher walked people, but they hit with runners on base and we did not.”
Meggitt walked with the bases loaded in the sixth to score the Comets’ last run.
In the second game Chesmar, in his first varsity start, allowed five hits, walked five and struck out six as Amherst improved to 7-5.
“He’s a left-handed control pitcher who stepped up big,” McConihe said. “When you lose a first game of a doubleheader and you have to bounce back, you need a guy who throws strikes.”
“I pitched well, but I have to thank my defense,” Chesmar said. “They made great plays behind me, and we finally hit the ball.”
The Comets banged out 11 hits, with Chesmar getting three of them.
“Max (Meggitt) played great at shortstop,” Chesmar said. “They gave me a double play (fifth inning). My curve was snapping well, and I credit my catcher (Bledsoe) for stopping the ones in the dirt.”
Amherst scored an unearned run in each of the first two innings and scored two runs on four hits in the third. A squeeze bunt by Meggitt in the sixth scored Morris to make it 5-1. Two wild pitches and a hit from Morris scored three runs in the seventh.
A bases-loaded walk to Desmond Guice scored Paul Camacho in the second inning for the Titans’ only run.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or stephenbyrne@att.net.
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