The high school pitcher's best friend is often his own bat, as many a prep hurler is also among the best hitters on the team.
Such is the case with Branham pitcher Drew Cooper who pitched and hit the host Bruins past Pioneer 11-4 on Thursday.
While Cooper was good on the mound, he was great in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with a home run and six runs batted. His three-run, fifth inning home run to right field sucked all of the suspense out of a game that was 7-3 Branham entering the inning.
"It was mid-inside, at the knees," Cooper said of the 0-0 count fastball. "I was looking for a fastball. I thought it was just going to hit off the fence, but it carried. It felt good, though."
The victory moved Branham (10-4 overall, 7-3 league) into sole possession of first place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton division.
If a pitcher's best pal is his bat, a close second is the double play, of which Branham converted two.
Down four runs in the fifth, Pioneer put a runner on first with one out. But Cooper caught a break when Pioneer slugger Ethan Stanton hit a hard grounder to shortstop that was turned into a 6-4-3 double play.
Cooper's three-run homer in the fifth ballooned Branham's lead to 10-3, but Pioneer threatened against relief pitcher Doug Stephens in the sixth by putting two on base with nobody out. Stephens then induced a double play grounder to minimize the damage, though Pioneer scored later in the inning on Kyle Cooper's RBI single.
"I didn't want to let in too many runs," said Stephens, who has only pitched four innings this season. "They just started pitching me this year because I'm a lefty. It's a thrill out there and to get a double play is a real big thing."
Stephens looks the part of a reliever with a full beard that would do Brian Wilson proud. But he only throws in the 70s and said he depends on off-speed stuff and spotting his fastball to get outs.
"I throw off-speed stuff a lot and throw a lot of two-seamers to get them off balance," Stephens said. "So far it's worked; that's a good thing."
Branham coach Landon Jacobs was happy with a week in which the Bruins took a pair of games from Pioneer.
"I'm really pleased with the way the team is playing team offensive baseball right now," Jacobs said. "Nobody is trying to be a hero; everyone is just going out and doing what the situation requires."
In the other dugout Pioneer coach Jake Hernandez continues to look ahead, but lamented a penchant of the Mustangs (4-9, 3-7) to give away free bases like a dentist passing out lollipops.
"We're a young, inexperienced team and we're competing every game, but we have a difficult time giving away 90 feet," Hernandez said. "We're giving away a lot of free bases on walks, hit by pitch(es) and errors."
Nolan Meadows and Chad Dockendorf each had two hits for Pioneer and Dakota Calvert hit a long, solo home run over the fence in left-center field.
Besides Cooper's big day, Kendall Eng had three hits for Branham from his leadoff spot, was on base four times and scored twice.
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com.
