Texas A&M commit Brady Cunningham has had a tremendous offensive spring for Brother Rice. Record-breaking, even, as his 14 home runs are the most in a season in school history.
But Cunningham, a junior infielder/pitcher, has struggled mightily in another aspect where he’s used to being equally dominant — on the mound. He came into Monday’s game with a 9.30 ERA.
So, shutting down rival Marist? That felt especially sweet.
“I finally just started attacking guys,” Cunningham said. “I think I did a good job of doing the little things right. If I made a mistake, I bounced back super quick. It feels good to finally do my job on the mound.”
Cunningham struck out seven over six shutout innings Monday and allowed just two hits to lead the host Crusaders to a 1-0 nonconference win over the RedHawks in Chicago.
Cunningham also outhit Marist by himself, going 3-for-4 with a double for Brother Rice (23-10).
Louisville recruit Colin Campbell pitched a perfect seventh inning for the save and produced a single and a run. Boston College commit Luca Agne drove in the lone run with a single.
“You couldn’t draw it up any better,” Campbell said. “Brady gives us six great innings and then I get to close it out. It’s exciting to see Brady do that, just to get his confidence up.
“I know who he is as a pitcher and I’ve seen him do everything. It’s great to see him look like Brady again, right at the perfect time of the year.”
Collin Lawlor did all he could to match Cunningham for Marist (19-11), striking out six and allowing just one earned run over five innings. His brother, Ryan, delivered a single and Charlie Dunneback added a double.
That was all the RedHawks could manage against Cunningham, who put his previous pitching troubles behind him.
“In my mind, every day’s a new day,” he said. “Whatever happens in the previous game, you just have to flush it. Everything expires at midnight and you start fresh the next day.
“This year, there’s been some adversity, so it feels good to have this game going into the playoffs.”
Brother Rice coach Sean McBride confirmed that Cunningham has dealt with the struggles well.
“I’m sure it’s been tough but he’s such a strong-minded kid who puts in the work that you wouldn’t be able to tell it was tough on him,” McBride said. “I’m sure, internally, he’s battled that, but he hasn’t shown it.”
Cunningham improved to 3-4 and lowered his ERA to 7.18.
Meanwhile, his single in the third inning was the second of three straight base hits, sandwiched between ones from Campbell and Agne, that led to the game’s only run.
Campbell is now hitting .563 with 47 runs, 14 homers and 53 RBIs. Last week, he broke the school record for single-season homers, which previously was at 12.
“I knew I was coming up on the record,” Cunningham said. “It was definitely living in my head a little bit, but my approach every time is just to get the job done for my team, and on the record homer, I just did my job that time and got rewarded.
“It was definitely a cool moment for me, my team and my family. It was great to share that with them.”
A special memory for a special player.
“With Brady, a lot of it is gifts from God, but most of it is the work he puts in and his mindset,” McBride said. “He puts in the work like nobody else and God usually rewards that. Or at least the baseball gods do.
“I’ve coached great ones here and there have been great ones before me, but he’s the best that’s ever come through here and it’s really not close, in my opinion.”
