By: Jordan Hirsh
May 10, 2023
EWING, NJ, – The Ewing Blue Devils (6-9) hung on to defeat the Steinert Spartans (13-6) on Tuesday, 5-4.
They were led by junior right hander, Collin Elam, who turned in a fantastic outing on the mound, going 6.2 innings, allowing just 4 hits and 2 earned runs.
It did not start out well for Elam, however, as he gave up 3 runs in the 1st on an RBI single by Jack Gill and an RBI single combined with an error on a groundball to 3rd base by Jack Lambert.
After a rough 1st inning, Elam settled in very nicely, forcing a lot of weak contact and working quick innings.
“I was able to get ahead early in the count and really just pound strikes,” said Elam. “I was confident in myself. I’ve been pitchin’ well the last couple games.”
On offense, Elam helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 1st to answer back for the Blue Devils.
Ewing would go onto score 4 runs with 2 outs in the 3rd after a jam shot single by Chris Salmon with the bases loaded tied the game, followed by a 2 RBI single by Sam Liebowitz, which gave the Blue Devils a 5-3 lead.
The score would remain 5-3 until the top of the 7th, when Jake Pope delivered an RBI single with Steinert down to their final strike to pull the Spartans to within a run.
As a result, Collin Elam was lifted from the game, and freshman righty, Sam Simpkins, was called out of the bullpen. Simpkins, who had only faced just 1 batter all season prior to today, was able to get Jack Gill to ground out to 2nd to end the game, and preserve a statement win for Ewing.
The Blue Devils will look to make it 2 in a row on Thursday, when they welcome the Princeton Tigers (4-13) to town. As for Steinert, they will look to avoid losing 3 straight for the first time all season on Wednesday, when they head to Allentown High School to take on the 11-6 Redbirds.
