PASADENA – It’s always a treat whenever Maranatha High School’s Dylan Covey is on the mound.
There were well over two dozen scouts hovering behind home plate to watch the Major League prospect and, as usual, he didn’t disappoint.
Covey struck out 14 and Danny Beckwith fanned the side in the seventh to combine for a no-hitter in leading the Minutemen to a 3-0 nonleague victory over Pasadena Poly on a chilly Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Field.
Covey, who topped out at 95 miles per hour, made 98 pitches and walked four. The walks gave Pasadena Poly (12-4) a chance to manufacture some runs after making little contact, if at all, but to no avail. The Panthers left six runners stranded and couldn’t capitalize on three Maranatha (14-8) errors.
“He’s the best we’ve seen,” Pasadena Poly coach Wayne Ellis said.
“We never threatened. The kid is a step above anything we’ve seen. He made a good-hitting team look bad.”
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The Minutemen, meanwhile, took advantage of several Pasadena Poly miscues, resulting in single runs in the first, second and fourth innings.
“We gave them those runs,” Ellis said.
“If not for those throwing mistakes, this game is all knotted up.”
“That’s baseball,” Maranatha coach Brian DeHaan said. “We talk about it every day. You have to take advantage and score runs when the chances are there.”
Erik Johnson went 2 for 3, and Schafer Chulay, Mark Jebbia and Beckwith each had a double for Maranatha. Jordan Kutzer, who struck out 10 in five innings, took the loss for the Panthers.
Tony Li connected on the first pitch for a single up the middle in the first inning. Daniel Rasmussen got to first on a throwing error to second, and Johnson singled to load the bases. A passed ball allowed Li to score to make it 1-0.
In the second, Matt Chavez connected on a 2-2 pitch for a single to center, reached second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Jay Cordero drew a walk and nearly got caught stealing second; what should have been a routine rundown turned into Cordero putting on a show by sliding under the tag at second base and allowing Chavez to score to make it 2-0.
Chulay’s double to left-center scored Beckwith in the fourth for the team’s third run.
“You gotta give Poly credit,” DeHaan said. “He struck us out (10) times, but Dylan did a phenomenal job.
“We had a couple key hits by some guys, and Danny (Beckwith) does exactly what we needed him to do.”
miguel.melendez@sgvn.com
