‘I knew I had to prove myself’: Kenning owns strike zone, Raiders bounce back with complete effort

QUINCY — Taking the mound one night after four pitchers combined to walk seven batters and uncork five wild pitches in the Quincy Notre Dame baseball team’s first loss of the season, Evan Kenning knew what he was up against.

“The pressure was kind of on to throw strikes,” he said. “I knew I had to prove myself.”

The junior right-hander showed he belongs in the rotation.

Kenning struck out five of the first six Palmyra batters he faced Tuesday — the final two in that sequence went down looking — and mowed down 10 batters over five innings in hurling the Raiders to a 10-2 victory at The Ferd.

He didn’t allow a hit until Jon Lundberg’s single with one out in the fourth inning. After allowing two runs and a double to Colby Cook in that inning, he came back in the fifth and struck out the first two batters before getting a flyball to center field to end the frame.

Overall, Kenning threw 73 pitches with 47 for strikes, while walking one and surrendering just three hits.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Kenning said of consistently hitting the strike zone. “It’s something you can’t describe. You’re in a zone and nothing else is really affecting you.”

Following Monday’s 12-4 loss to Hersey, it was the kind of bounce-back effort the Raiders (4-1) and their pitching staff needed.

“The thing that we harped on after the )Hersey) game was throwing strikes,” QND senior third baseman Brady Kindhart said. “Kenning came out here and got the job done.”

The offense backed him up with a surprising power source kickstarting things.

With one out in the third inning and Michael Stupavsky on second base following a leadoff double, Colin Kurk roped a line drive over Lundberg in center field, leading to an RBI triple and the first run in a five-run frame.

“I didn’t know I could do all that with the ball,” said Kurk, the No. 9 hitter in QND’s lineup. “It felt really good off the bat.”

It energized everyone.

“It gets the guys in the dugout hyped up,” Kindhart said. “We like when the guys lower in the lineup do what they need to do and help carry the offense to what we can do.”

A two-out walk to Tucker Tollerton and an intentional walk to Dalton Miller brought Kindhart to the plate with the bases loaded. After falling behind in the count, Kindhart jumped on an inside pitch from Palmyra starter Ethan Tallman and launched a grand slam to left field.

“I was looking for something away to fight off and take the other way,” Kindhart said. “He missed inside, and it was just a pitch I could do damage on.”

The opportunity wouldn’t have existed without Kurk delivering at the bottom of the order. In fact, the bottom three in QND’s lineup — Stupavsky, Nolan Robb and Kurk — combined to go 3 for 8 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

“When you’re at the bottom of the order, you just have to get something started,” Kurk said. “I’m glad I could get something going, get the run on the board and then it just kind of goes from there.”

That was enough for Kenning.

“Our offense is great,” Kenning said as the Raiders also got a two-run home run from Alex Connoyer in the fifth inning. “It takes a lot of stress off on the mound as the pitcher. You know the offense will pick you up.”

Miller, the senior right-handed closer, pitched the final two innings, striking out four of the six batters.

“We needed to get a win back under our belts,” Kindhart said. “We needed someone to show us we’re not all that and a bag of chips. We’re still going to see some good competition, and we’re going to have to show up day in and day out.”

Tallman lasted 3⅔ innings for Palmyra, allowing six earned runs and four hits while walking five and striking out two. Panthers reliever Gavin Greving struck out three, walked two and allowed two hits over 2⅓ innings.