Merhottein Deals as 14U Revs Cruise to 8-1 Win

By The Dub Report

JJ Merhottein had runners on base all morning.

It barely mattered. 

The Lehigh Valley Revolution 14U starter kept escaping every challenge Pocono Mountains Baseball Club threw at him, striking out six and allowing just one run in five innings as the Revs powered to an 8-1 win.

Pocono found a hit in the first. Merhottein erased the threat himself, fielding a grounder and starting a force play at second before ending the inning with a swinging strikeout. Right away, he showed that getting on base was one thing. Finding a way home was going to be much tougher.

That became the theme. Runner on? Merhottein got an out. Another runner in scoring position? Another out.

In the second, Pocono put a man aboard with two down. Merhottein answered with another punchout to send the Revs right back to the dugout. 

And this time, the offense exploded. The Revs hung four runs on the board in the top of the second. Connor I. worked a bases-loaded walk, another run raced home on a passed ball, and Louis H. ripped a two-out single into left that scored two more. 

Suddenly, Merhottein was pitching with a 4-0 lead. 

The Revs had given their pitcher breathing room, and Merhottein made sure Pocono never got close enough to take it away.

The Revs stretched it to 7-0 in the third before Merhottein faced his biggest test.

Three walks loaded the bases with only one out. 

He didn’t fold. Merhottein froze the next hitter for strike three, then gave up a single that brought in Pocono’s first run. The bases were still loaded. The inning was still alive.

One pitch later, a popout ended it. Three runners stranded. Damage stopped at one.
The Revs defense jumped in during the fourth, too. With two runners aboard and two outs, catcher Connor I. fired to third and caught a runner stealing to shut down another Pocono threat.

Then Merhottein finished the job himself.

He opened the fifth with a strikeout, fielded a ground ball for the second out, then worked through two more baserunners. 

With the final hitter battling him to a full count, Merhottein dropped in strike three looking to end the game. It was a fitting finish to a morning spent answering trouble with one big pitch after another.

His final line: five innings, three hits, one run and six strikeouts.