ALTON – Brady McAfee had an outstanding game for Marquette Catholic in Friday's 6-0 baseball win for the Explorers over Metro East Lutheran.
McAfee, a senior, threw five innings and gave up just one hit while striking out nine in the Explorers' win over the Knights, retiring the last 13 MEL batters he faced before coming out in the top of the sixth.
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“I came out and tried to limit my walks and my pitch count,” McAfee said. “I switched from a curveball to a slider and I've been liking the late break on the slider that I've been getting; it's been helping to keep my pitch count down. It's a good 1-2 combo with my two-seam (fastball) that I throw.”
McAfee bounced back from what he termed a “rough outing” against Columbia, a 6-0 Explorer loss March 29. “I had a rough outing my last outing (against the Eagles),” McAfee said, “but other than that, all my other outings have been pretty good; it's all about cutting down the walks.”
Friday's win was Marquette's Prairie State Conference opener. “We wanted to make a statement – first conference game, you know,” McAfee said. “I really think we are better than we were last year; we've had a lot of rainouts, so we haven't had a chance to get rolling. I think we're going to make some noise this year.”
Next up for Marquette is a 4:30 p.m. PSC game today at Mount Olive, followed by a 4:30 p.m. Tuesday clash against Civic Memorial at Gordon Moore Park/Lloyd Hopkins Field and a 4:30 p.m. Wednesday home game against Okawville.
