Beachy has best outing of spring

Sports

Discussion

March 28, 2012

Beachy has best outing of spring

He goes 6 innings against Yankees

Anonymous Associated Press Wed Mar 28, 2012, 11:18 PM EDT

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Atlanta Braves starter Brandon Beachy turned out to be a dependable five inning pitcher last season.

In his rookie year, the Kokomo native started 25 games and went 7-3, but he chalked up only 141 2-3 innings. He became known for hitting the wall around the sixth inning and turning it over to the Braves’ stellar bullpen.

Entering his fifth year of professional baseball, all in the Braves organization, Beachy has never thrown a complete game. He said, after the Braves tied the New York Yankees, 5-5, in 10 innings on Wednesday, that he is working on pitching longer and said he wants to start completing games.

“I am ready to start going deep because that’s what they need from me,” Beachy said after going six innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. “I am trying to get ahead of the batters.”

The Northwestern High School product said something clicked after his third inning against the Yankees that has him feeling he has found what will make him a successful starter.

“I’ve been going through all spring like it was a long bullpen session, then everything started to come together. I got ahead and I am ready to go now. I learned a lot [Wednesday].”

After giving up a run in the first, and two more in the third, Beachy settled down over the next three innings and retired nine straight. It was Beachy’s best outing of the spring and manager Fredi Gonzalez noticed.

“I want him throwing about 100 pitches, but they have to go farther than six innings,” Gonzalez said. “He gets his pitch count up, but we are going to prod him. The most important thing is to get him past the ‘shot down innings’ where we start to think about making a change.”

Gonzalez said he wants Beachy to be able to reach at least 115 pitches when needed.

Hiroki Kuroda went seven innings for the Yankees, allowing two runs and a homer and striking out six. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said that Kuroda has solidified his spot as the Yankees No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia

Braves notes

RHP Tommy Hanson is lined up to be the Braves’ opening day starter on April 5 against the New York Mets. Hanson will start Saturday in his final exhibition outing which would leave him the usual four days rest before his next start. RHP Tim Hudson, recovering from back surgery, is scheduled to pitch two innings in Monday’s exhibition finale against the Mets. It will mark his first appearance of the spring.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Sports

Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional.

May 19, 2013 1 Photo
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.

May 17, 2013
Eastern, Kokomo favored in boys track sectional
Some of the names and faces have changed, but the plot remains much the same.
The Kokomo boys track and field sectional, much like last year, will likely be a two-horse race between the host and three-time defending champion Wildkats and Eastern, a team looking to break through and win its first sectional title since 1998.

May 16, 2013 1 Photo
Cole to jump at Miami University
Eastern athlete Grant Cole has only been a long jumper for two seasons, but being turned on to the event late in his career has landed him a scholarship to Miami University.

May 16, 2013 1 Photo
Comets roar to sectional title
As the old adage goes, it’s harder stay on top than it is to reach the top.
Eastern’s girls track and field team entered the 2012 postseason hoping to put in a strong enough effort to claim the program’s first sectional title.
Having done so, the Comets entered Tuesday’s postseason opener — the Madison-Grant Sectional — with a much larger bull’s-eye on their backs than in previous years.
Eastern proved up to the challenge, scoring a landslide victory to repeat as sectional champions with 125 points.

May 15, 2013 1 Photo
Dexter leaving Eastern
Eastern girls basketball coach Jeremy Dexter has stepped down from the Comet program after accepting the AD job at Churubusco last week. Churubusco is in Whitley County about 15 minutes west of Fort Wayne.
Dexter led the Comets to a Class 2A state runner-up finish this past season.

May 15, 2013 1 Photo
Hunter edges Shrout in Thunder Car thriller
Two drivers who are no strangers to Victory Lane returned there Sunday night at the Kokomo Speedway. Meanwhile, a third driver scored just the second feature win of his career at the local oval to highlight the racing action.
Chris Hunter, the winningest Thunder Car driver in the history of the local oval, ground out a gritty win over defending track champion Jason Shrout to highlight the chilly night.

May 14, 2013
Girls track sectional is tonight
Eastern’s girls track and field team is ready to chase some more championship hardware.
Two weeks ago, the Comets won their fourth straight Howard County meet. Last week, they won their fourth straight Mid-Indiana Conference meet. Now, the postseason is here, with the Madison-Grant Sectional tonight.
“We’re looking forward to taking the next step,” Eastern coach Michael Goodspeed said.

May 14, 2013 1 Photo
Athlete of the week
Oyler led the way as Class 2A No. 5-ranked Eastern beat Cass (4-3) and Hamilton Heights (5-4 in 12 innings) to move to 6-0 in the Mid-Indiana Conference with one league game remaining.

May 13, 2013 1 Photo
Page family bonds over martial arts
A mother and father to six children, Jason and Denise Page began to run into your typical challenges associated with such a large family back in 2008, once the oldest children reached an age where they started to have desires to be involved in sports and other extracurricular activities.
As the commitments started to pile up, it didn’t seem like there were enough hours in the day to accomplish all the pitstops and still have time left over to fellowship as a family.
Karate to the rescue.

May 12, 2013 1 Photo
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Beachy has best outing of spring

He goes 6 innings against Yankees

Site Map

Contact Us