Kuzma stonewalls Foothill surge, pitches Skyhawks to 6-1 victory

Silverado junior David Kuzma cruised through five innings Monday, then ran into trouble in the sixth when Foothill scored to pull to within 3-1 and had two runners on base with one out.

No problem.

Kuzma struck out Kevin Becker and got pinch hitter Frank Tuminello to pop out to short to end the inning, and the host Skyhawks went on to beat the Falcons, 6-1.

“That was definitely a tight spot,” Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. “He’s got really good composure for being a junior and his first time on the varsity level. Very impressive. There was no panic there.”

Kuzma had allowed a one-out RBI single by Dayton Kurian that put runners at first and second. Kuzma said he had to concentrate on location after that.

“When he got the hit, I threw the ball about belt high, so I knew I just had to work down by the knees and I’ll get out of this inning,” Kuzma said.

“Once I got out of that inning, I knew we were going to coast to the win after that.”

But Silverado (8-2-1, 1-0 Southeast League) wasn’t done, scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning to give Kuzma some cushion. Josh Bravin and Mark Janosik delivered RBI singles, and another run scored on a wild pitch.

“That was real nice going back out after they had produced some runs,” Kuzma said.

Kuzma scattered eight hits, struck out three and issued one walk. He threw 87 pitches in the complete game, 63 for strikes.

“David was in command pretty much throughout and located the ball real good,” Whitaker said. “He worked ahead; all the pitching things you want to see.”

Two freshmen led Silverado’s offense, with Vincent Taormina going 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Dillon Johnson going 2-for-3 with a run.

Anthony Lopez, Bligh Madris and Kurian each had two hits for Foothill (4-4, 0-1).