Paulik fans 14, Coleman adds 3 RBIs for Rochester in TRC win

Beck strikes out side in 7th to cap off combined 2-hitter

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Carson Paulik Brady Coleman

Rochester senior pitcher Carson Paulik has more than just a four-seam fastball and a curve.

He also has a two-seam fastball and a curve, and it was all too much for visiting Northfield as the Zebras rolled to a 6-1 win at Bob Copeland Field Tuesday.

Zakk Parks and Brady Coleman spearheaded the Rochester offense from the top two spots in the lineup. Parks had two hits and scored three times, and Coleman went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and a run scored. No. 8 hitter Conner Dunfee also had two hits.

In addition to his pitching, Paulik also had an RBI bloop single in the first inning.

But the story was Paulik’s pitching. He faced 23 batters and struck out 14 of them. Northfield scored their lone run in the third inning, but that was the only inning they got a man in scoring position.

Brant Beck came on to strike out the side in the seventh and finish off the combined two-hitter. Paulik and Beck also combined to retire the final seven batters.

“Actually, we stayed away from the change-up a lot,” Parks, a senior catcher, said. “We went curve ball and fastball heavy, and then we worked his two-seamer, which is what looks like a change-up a little bit.”

Cooper Good and Luke Eviston each had a single for Northfield, a reigning Class 1A sectional champion.

Rochester improved to 7-7 overall and 2-0 in the Three Rivers Conference. Northfield fell to 5-6, 0-2.

Northfield tied the game 1-1 in the third when Good scored from first on a throwing error on Breckon Floor’s sacrifice bunt. But with Floor on third and nobody out, Paulik struck out Eviston, got Wyatt Bucher on a fly to Trenton Meadows in right field that was too shallow to attempt to score Floor and struck out Caleb DuBois.

DuBois came in with a .464 batting average and five home runs and only one strikeout in 28 at-bats. But against Paulik, he struck out all three times up.

“He’s getting stronger,” Rochester coach Cory Good said. “He’s getting better. We told him earlier this year we’re going to take you slow. You might get pulled in the fifth and sixth inning after 85 pitches, and you don’t want to, but that’s the way we’re going to handle you this year. So we’re ramping him up, getting him ready to go postseason. He started mixing in a fourth and a fifth pitch tonight. We’ve been pushing him to do that a little bit. … We’re trying to mix in a cutter and a sinker a little bit. Just trying to add to his repertoire. If he’s going to go to Taylor (University) next year and you’re going to be a starting pitcher for them, you’re not going to be able to throw three pitches.”

Meanwhile, Rochester went ahead for good in the bottom of the third. With nobody on and two out, Parks reached on an error and stole second. Coleman got ahead in the count 3-1 against DuBois and then checked his swing and put a soft liner into the hole on the left side for an RBI single.

Coleman added a two-run single to left in the fifth, pulling a DuBois heater into left field to bring home Liam Spence and Parks.

Coleman would later score when Paulik reached on an error to make it 5-1.

In the sixth, Linden Wilburn reached on an error and moved to third on Dunfee’s double. He later scored on a passed ball.

“Brady’s just a very good hitter for us,” Good said of Coleman. “We need some guys on base ahead of him. But I really thought our approaches were pretty good today. You know, the DuBois kid hid the ball well behind him. It was kind of deceiving picking it up late. That ball is kind of heavy. It looks like it’s coming a little harder than maybe what it is when you’re at the plate, and that curve ball he could throw for strikes too.”

Parks led off the game with an infield single down the third baseline. Coleman was hit by a pitch, moving Parks to second. Parker Casper grounded into a double play with shortstop Ty Leming taking his grounder up the middle and stepping on the bag and throwing to first.

Parks moved to third on the play.

Paulik hit what seemed to be a harmless fly to shallow right, but with the wind pushing the ball away from the charging right fielder, the ball dropped, and Paulik scored.

Parks said hitting leadoff in the order means he is seeing more fastballs at the plate.

“I love it because I don’t get a lot of curve balls, and I get to be the one to work the count up there to start it off,” Parks said.

Rochester 6, Northfield 1

Northfield 001 000 0 – 1 2 4

Rochester 101 031 X – 6 7 1

WP – Carson Paulik (6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 14 K)

LP – Caleb DuBois (6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K)

2B – Conner Dunfee (RHS)