BY JOHNNY WILSON
Sports Correspondent
BRISTOL, Va. - In the end the stat guy had to mark it down in the wrong column, but that did not take away the good feeling about Jacob Petricka’s professional pitching debut at Boyce Cox Field.
The recent No. 2 draft pick of the White Sox organization, Petricka rebounded quickly from a rough start Saturday night to throw four solid innings in Bristol’s 2-0 setback at the hands of Appalachian League counterpart Princeton.
Petricka, a rangy 6-foot-4 righthander out of Indiana State, gave up two first-inning runs but settled down and finished with six strikeouts and no walks in his closely-monitored effort.
“He threw a lot of innings in college this year so we’re going to be real careful with him, kinda watch his innings,” BriSox manager Ryan Newman said. “It was his first outing so we wanted to take baby steps and get his feet wet.
“But, you know, a kid with an arm like that, you’re going to have high hopes for him. I expect a lot out of him.”
Petricka got into trouble right away by allowing a leadoff double to Kevin Kiermaier and an infield single to Leonardo Reginatto, and both scored when Ruben Contreras banged a two-out double high off the wall in deep right center.
Otherwise, it was an impressive start for Petricka, who fanned three in the first inning and retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.
“He made one bad pitch and at this level they will make you pay,” Newman said. “Besides that, I thought he did a great job in his first outing of professional ball.
“I’ll take that effort every time.”
Petricka, 22, couldn’t complain much.
“I felt really good about it, especially considering the way things went with the first few batters,” said Petricka, who played two years at ISU. “I was really nervous coming in, but once I got that first strike it was more like just another game ... just work from ahead and go from there.”
Petricka learned a little as well.
“You can’t be leaving pitches out over the plate,” he said, referring to the Contreras double. “It’s a mistake to get behind these hitters, because you are going to face good hitters every day. And they make you pay for mistakes.”
Princeton (1-4) picked up its first win of the year behind the two-man pitching tandem of lefthander Jacob Partridge and right-handed reliever Mickey Jannis.
Partridge went the first six innings for the win, allowing four of Bristol’s seven hits while striking out five. Jannis picked up a save for the Devil Rays, getting a big assist from rightfielder Contreras, who ended the game by nailing a Bristol runner at home plate.
“Our pitching has been outstanding the last four games although we only have one ‘W’ to show for it,” said Princeton manager Michael Johns. “Tonight Partridge was as good as anybody we’ve seen. He’s our fifth starter, but really he has better than fifth-starter stuff.”
The two teams play the rubber game of their three-game series tonight at 7 in Bristol.
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