OCONOMOWOC, Wis. – The DockHounds outlasted a rain delay and the Kansas City Monarchs en route to a 3-0 Memorial Day victory Monday afternoon in Wisconsin Brewing Company Park.
After Sterling Sharp warmed up twice before the game, he wasted no time in carving up the Monarch offense. Sharp’s efficient outing earned him his first “Top Dog” award this season.
“It feels good,” Sharp said. “Anytime you can have a six-inning, pretty quick and efficient game, I feel good about that.”
A heavy dosage of fastballs factored into the quality outing.
“We got through the first few innings using only fastballs, so it gave me a little more wiggle room the second and third time through,” Sharp said.
With the wind blowing in and rain coming down, the DockHounds went away from Sharp’s traditional pitch – a sinker.
“We actually went away from what I am pretty good at throwing,” Sharp said. “We saw my four-seam was playing up more than usual, so we went pretty heavy with the four-seamer today.”
Working the fastball and sprinkling in the off-speed, Sharp kept batters off-balance all game, often inducing weak contact. Sharp finished the game after six innings as he yielded one hit and four walks. He also collected three strikeouts.
“He attacked the strike zone all day, forced them to swing the bats and didn’t give up anything for free and that makes all the difference in the world,” DockHounds manager Ken Huckaby said.
The Lake Country offense opened the scoring in the third inning after Blake Tiberi drove Deivy Grullon in with a sacrifice fly. Josh Altmann later singled and drove Justin Lavey in to put the DockHounds up two.
Justin Connell also extended his on-base streak to 17 as he tripled home a run in the eighth.
The DockHounds will continue the series against the Monarchs at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.
