Crosby, A.L.L. 9/10s ace, pacing team's pitching

Brandon Crosby absolutely shut down his opponent earlier this week. And it didn't even take his best stuff to do it.

Crosby, a starting pitcher and shortstop on the Ahwatukee Little League's 9/10 All-Stars, threw 4 2/3 innings of four-hit baseball in his team's 10-5 win over Chandler American Tuesday night. He gave up three runs (only one was earned), and struck out six.

"He threw very, very well (Tuesday)," said Joe Davis, the 9/10s manager, "but he threw better Friday night."

In that game, a 14-2 win over Tempe South last Friday, Crosby went 5 2/3 innings before capping out at 75 pitches.

"The first game, he was much more accurate," Davis said. "He was getting ahead of the hitters, he was more in control of the game.

"(Tuesday), he was getting behind in counts, going 1-0, 2-0. He knows he needs to get ahead. A couple things (falling behind) does: we're stuck with pitch counts, it elevates his pitch count more than he'd like, and the other thing is it gets their hitters in a good hitting count."

Crosby, who moved to 2-0 with the win, threw 75 pitches again Tuesday night, which is just fine with the all-star. He said his favorite part of the all-star experience so far has been "pitching a lot."

"That team's a pretty solid team," Davis said of Chandler American. "Hitting, they put the ball into play. They put some pressure on us to play defense."

But Crosby did his part, too.

After a leadoff walk in the first inning, he got a strike out before inducing an inning-ending double play. An inning later, Crosby worked out of another leadoff walk with two more strikeouts.

Afterward, Davis pulled Crosby aside.

"He said that I did really good," Crosby said, "and to keep on doing that."

Contact writer: (480) 898-4906 or rcasey@ahwatukee.com.