MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. – One of the top pitchers on the Olive-Harvey baseball team’s staff this season, Jan Lopez (Colegio Nuestra Senora del Pilar H.S./Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) owns a 4.13 ERA to go along with 24 strikeouts in 32.2 innings.
Although Lopez has pitched well, he is still in search of his first victory. A lack of offensive support has been the main culprit as OHC has only generated two runs in his four decisions, including one in Friday’s 4-1 setback at Bryant & Stratton College, where the freshman right-hander allowed one earned run and struck out a season-high seven in five innings.
Lopez exited the game with the Panthers trailing 3-1 after the hosts tallied a pair of unearned runs in the fifth. Reliever Luis Flores (Jose Collazo Colon H.S./Junios, Puerto Rico) pitched well in relief, yielding just one run in the final three innings.
After Bryant & Stratton took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Olive-Harvey tied it in the fifth. Julio Castro (Island Coast H.S./Cape Coral, Fla.), who went 2-for-4 at the plate, led off with a single and advanced to second after Jorge Torres (North Shore H.S./Houston, Texas) was hit by a pitch. Kenneth O’Farrill (Vocacional Miguel Such H.S./Loiza, Puerto Rico) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up 90 feet before a two-out error enabled Castro to score.
The tie didn’t last long as two OHC errors in the bottom half of the inning led to the pair of unearned runs. The Bobcats concluded their scoring with a run in the seventh.
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