TEWKSBURY – Chris Jaillet. Dylan Lawrence. Cole Mullen. Matt Stuart. Nolan Dawson.
Those are five legitimate, top-tier talented pitchers in the Merrimack Valley Conference.
You can add a sixth name in there.
Jayden Minaya.
The Lawrence High junior was once again sensational on Wednesday, tossing a three-hitter in a complete game, 5-1, win over a seven-win Tewksbury team.
The right-hander tossed nothing but fastballs and curveballs from start to finish. He didn’t walk a batter. Although he struck out six, he mostly relied on his defense to do the work, which included a handful of ESPN web gems by several of his teammates.
Minaya upped his record to 5-0 on the season, while the Lancers improved to 8-4.
“Jayden is an enormous part of our team and to our success,” said head coach Will Carrasco. “Obviously other teams have pitchers like him, but it just gives us such confidence when he’s out there. I wasn’t surprised that we made all those defensive plays behind him because the kids are just so confident when Jayden is on the mound.”
Minaya got his feet wet as a freshman and then made a big leap last year. He finished the season with four wins, a 2.97 ERA and in 26.1 innings, he struck out 28 batters and was named a second team league all-star.
After Wednesday’s performance, Minaya now has surpassed last year’s win total, while he is sporting an 0.94 ERA. In 29.2 innings, he has struck out 32 batters.
“He had great command of his curveball today,” said Carrasco. “We have fooled around a bit in practice with a change-up, and that’s something that we do preach to the boys that they should have a third pitch.”
Should, but as of right now, probably not necessary.
The late break on his curveball made for a long afternoon on the Redmen hitters.
“I’m just trying to throw it over for a strike. If I can get it for a strike, then I can get the batters off-balance and then try to get them out,” said Minaya.
He did just that.
Tewksbury’s top three batters were 0 for 10 and didn’t get the ball out of the infield. The Redmen managed three singles. Minaya recorded 12 infield outs thanks to the vacuum at third base, Anderson Silverio, who made three impressive plays, while shortstop Isaias Romero and left fielder Darren Rodriguez also showed off the leather.
“They are animals out there. Anderson made two awesome diving plays, and our shortstop made a crazy play,” said Minaya. “Our defense has been really good this year, but we still have lots to improve on.”
The Lancers have eight games to go to improve – and win at least two more games to qualify for the state tournament for the second straight year. Lawrence will be tested next week with three games in four days against the top teams in the league in Chelmsford, North Andover and Andover.
Minaya will most likely get matched up against one of the other league’s best pitchers. He can’t wait for the challenge.
“I try to get better each day so I can get better than everyone I see (and get matched up against) who is close to my ability,” he said. “Seeing pitchers who are older than me doing the same things as I’m doing, feels good.”
And where does Minaya think he ranks amongst the top pitchers in the league?
“I don’t know. People will just have to see for themselves,” he said with a smile.
Lawrence 5, Tewksbury 1Lawrence: Anderson Silverio 3b 4-0-1, Christopher Berroa cf 3-1-1, Isaias Romero ss 4-0-0, Jose Sanchez 2b 4-2-0, Daoneal Garcia 1b 3-1-3, Melvin Jimenez dh 4-0-2, Yendry Rivero c 2-0-0, Mario Reyes ph 1-0-0, Darren Rodriguez lf 4-1-2,Michael Caba rf 2-0-1, Franklin Rojas ph 1-0-0, Jayden Minaya p 0-0-0. Totals: 32-5-10.
Tewksbury: DiFranco cf 4-0-0, Lombardi ss 3-0-0, Barrasso 2b 3-0-0, Augstyniak rf 2-1-1, Cunha c 3-0-0, Feudo c 0-0-0, Kingston 3b 3-0-1, Barletta 1b 3-0-1, Ghali dh 3-0-0, Lynch lf 3-0-0, Durkin p 0-0-0, Russo p 0-0-0. Totals: 27-1-3.
RBI: Lawrence, Jimenez 2, Silverio, Garcia, Rivero; Tewksbury, Kingston; WP: Jayden Minaya (5-0) 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K; LP: Colin Durkin 5 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K; Lawrence 8-4; Tewksbury 7-5.