Prep: ‘Other’ ace pitches Gators to 7-0 victory

Spencer Patterson

Friday, April 24, 1998 | 8:37 a.m.

Although it's fairly obvious that two ace pitchers are better than one, few high school squads ever get the chance to test that theory.

Of course, Green Valley's five-time defending state champion baseball team is the exception to most rules.

On Thursday, two days after the Gators' had their 19-game winning streak snapped with Mike Nannini on the mound, they turned to their "other" star pitcher to stop the bleeding.

And senior right-hander Joe Orloski did just that, pitching a complete-game one-hitter to lift the hosts to a 7-0 victory over Chaparral.

"This was one of his best pitching performances," Green Valley coach Rodger Fairless said. "He just pitched a great game today."

The win improved the Gators' record to 22-2 and 9-1 in the Sunrise Division, and moved them a game ahead of the Cowboys (15-6, 8-2) into sole possession of first place.

Orloski (7-1) got all the support he would need in the first inning. John Slack -- Green Valley's leadoff batter -- singled to center and came around to score on an RBI single by teammate Justin Gentile.

After adding a run in the fifth to make it 2-0, the hosts broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth, sending nine batters to the plate and tallying nine more runs.

Sophomore Ben Schiess provided the key blow, a two-out double which brought home Slack and David Krynzel and chased Chaparral starter Brett Bollman.

"I was a little concerned with the first five innings, but we had some guys step up with guys on base (in the sixth)," Fairless said.

Orloski, who gave up a leadoff double to Soren Nickels in the second, was in total command the entire way, striking out seven and allowing only one runner past second base. The flaw in his performance came in the form of six hit batters -- an unusual statistic for one of the area's top control pitchers.

"I was just concentrating on going inside, and a some of them got away from me," Orloski explained.

"This kid pitched a great baseball game today," Cowboys coach Richard Ebarb said. "He kept the runners off the basepaths, and with two strikes he just wanted it more than we did."