October 22 - Evan Nordeen did not allow a run after the fourth inning while Davis Sawyer drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh to give the Stars Blue 13u a 6-5 win over the NOVA Premier 13u yesterday at South County Middle School.

With the game tied at five, the Stars loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning and with two outs, Sawyer hit a groundball between the third baseman and shortstop to score a run. Nordeen then shut down the Premier in the seventh with help from a nifty double-play turned by the Stars’ middle infield.  

“That was a lot different than how we played in the past. Even last week we got punched early and put our tail in between our legs,” Stars’ coach Tyler Jewett said. “I was very happy on how they played today and stayed together as a team and played all seven innings.”

Nordeen entered the game in the fourth after Stars’ starting pitcher J.J. Glasscock allowed three runs on one hit in the first three innings. With his team leading 5-3, Nordeen allowed two runs as Chandler Valbak and Brady Solomon drove in runs for the Premier. The lefty then gave his team the opportunity to win the game by holding the Premier to one hit in the final three innings. 

“I’m going to start calling him Blue, as in Paul Bunyan's oxe, because that’s what he is. He is our workhorse,” Jewett said. “He even asked me if he could go back out and finish the game. His confidence today was the biggest thing I saw that allowed him to go back out and finish the game.”

Along with his confidence, Nordeen’s success rode on his ability to keep the opposition off-balanced with his changeup and his timely use of his curveball, striking out five. The lefty also limited the game plan for the Premier on the base paths by alternating a slide step to his delivery to the plate.

“[Nordeen] throws a lot of strikes but his breaking ball was working well today. We didn’t try to overuse it, but in the right situation we let him throw it and let it work for him,” Jewett said.

“He kept us from doing what we like to do on the bases and that’s be aggressive,” Premier’s coach Eddie Kim said. “Credit to him, he kept us off-balanced and got us to chase at some balls. And he was throwing strikes. When you do that you keep your team in the ballgame.”

The Premier’s early 3-2 lead quickly vanished in the third as the Stars scored three runs on three extra base-hits from Jack Holland, Isaac Yun and Ryan Alexander that each scored a run. Holland scored twice and was the only player on either team with multiple hits.

Premier's Hunter Whitt was able to stop the bleeding in the third, getting the final two outs of the inning and then did not allow a hit in his next three frames. For Whitt, his three walks were his only blemishes.

“The kid competes,” Kim said. “[Whitt] finds himself giving up walks to start innings but he finds a way to get it done. He kept us in the ballgame. Unfortunately, offensively we couldn’t find a way to get it done.”

After the Premier tied the game in the fourth, both Nordeen and Whitt put up zeros for their teams until the seventh. The Stars were able to rally against Premier’s reliever Owen Buckley, scoring the deciding run on an RBI from Sawyer.

The Premier will be in action next against the Stars White 13u on Wednesday at Poplar Tree Park while the Stars NVTBL fall schedule is complete.