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Harvey’s ace left-handed starting pitcher Edwin Sanchez threw a one-hit, 1-0 shutout Monday, May 20, to beat The Wheeler School in the opening round of the New England Small School Baseball Championship Tournament.

Sanchez was spectacular, especially in the first three innings, when he struck out the first nine Wheeler batters to face him. He finished with 13 strikeouts.

Harvey broke the ice in the scoreless game in the bottom of the third when Will Hargreaves led off with a single. With one out he advanced to second on a passed ball, which proved costly to Wheeler because Luke McCarthy stroked a double which allowed Hargreaves to score from second and give Harvey the 1-0 lead.

The first batter to reach base against Sanchez came in the fourth on a lead-off walk, but the runner was caught trying to steal to erase a scoring threat. In the fifth inning, Sanchez gave up his first and only hit, a two-out single. After a stolen base, the next Warrior drew a walk to put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base. Sanchez got out of the jam when the lead runner was nailed at the plate trying to steal home.

Sanchez took his one-hitter into the final inning. He got the first batter to fly out, but then he walked the next two hitters, once again putting Warrior runners on base representing the tying and go-ahead runs as Harvey was trying to hold on to its slim one-run lead. The game ended in exciting fashion when the next Warrior batter flew out to center where Will Hargreaves caught it and threw to second to catch the lead runner off the bag for the inning-ending, game-ending double play.

Harvey coach Ray Lacen was impressed with Sanchez’ performance. “Edwin provided us with another fantastic start and we made key defensive plays to thwart their offense,” the coach said. He was also liked what he saw from his team. ”This was a true test against a very gritty Wheeler team, but our boys played well and really showed how to win tight games,” Coach Lacen said. 

The Cavaliers only had three hits, but they played error-less baseball behind Sanchez.

With the win, Harvey, the No. 4 seed, travels to play top-seed Greenwich Country Day Wednesday in the semifinal round of the tournament.