Central relying on quartet of senior arms

By Tommy Keeler Jr. -- tkeeler@nvdaily.com

WOODSTOCK -- Central coach Donn Foltz has good reason to feel optimistic about his team's chances in the Northwestern District tournament, which begins today.

The Falcons have the advantage of having one of the best pitching staffs in the area.

Seniors J.J. Armentrout, Brian Davis, Sam Dowdy and Alex Palmerton have combined to lead the Falcons to their best season ever in Group AA. Fifth-seeded Central plays at fourth-seeded Kettle Run in the quarterfinals.

"They've all done a good job," Foltz said. "They've been big contributors. I'm really going to miss them. They've been the key to most of our wins. Pitching has kept us in the game. We've had a good defensive year. We lost a lot of guys last year. Pitching was the one thing I knew I could rely on -- hopefully -- and it proved me right."

Dowdy and Palmerton have proven to be a vital 1-2 punch as starters. Davis has given the Falcons some valuable extra innings and Armentrout has been the nearly flawless at the back end of games. Armentrout has allowed only one earned run all season.

Palmerton has been a pitcher for the Falcons for four years, and provides valuable experience.

In the first game last season, Central starting pitcher Daniel Hawkins, who had already signed to play at West Virginia University, suffered a season-ending injury. That paved the way for Dowdy and Davis to pick up more innings and experience.

Dowdy started to hit his stride at the end of last season and finished with a 2.07 ERA. This season he picked up where he left off, and leads the area with 70 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched and has a 2.54 ERA.

"We know what to do in certain situations," Dowdy said. "If one of the other guys is pitching, we know they're going to do their all to do the best they can. Coming into this year I expected to do as well as last year. This offseason I put in a lot of time. I wanted to raise the bar high."

Armentrout has been the biggest surprise on the staff. Foltz knew that Armentrout was a good athlete and decided to work with him, hoping that he could develop on the mound.

Armentrout has logged 20 2/3 innings and has struck out 25 against 10 walks. He's yielded eight runs, but only one earned for a 0.44 ERA.

"I'm just coming in closing what they've started off," Armentrout said. "They've been pitching well and I just try not to mess it up. It's worked out well so far."

It's also helped the starters knowing they have Armentrout to back them up.

"I can expect J.J. to come in and after I go five or six or Dowdy goes five or six and close the door," Palmerton said. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. You don't have to finish your own game. You have somebody that can do that too."

Palmerton has a 2.63 ERA, with 45 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings, and pushes Dowdy in a friendly numbers competition.

"He's had a pretty strong year," Palmerton said of Dowdy. "One game against Handley I had 11 strikeouts. I talked to him before [the next game against] Warren County and he said he wasn't going to catch me and he came out and threw 15. It's a competitive thing. I like trying to outdo him and he likes trying to outdo me. It's just that kind of competitive edge that we have."

While Central's quartet of reliable arms have been solid on the bump, they've also been strong swinging the bat.

Armentrout leads the team with a .377 (20-for-53) batting average and has one homer and 14 RBIs. Palmerton is hitting .364 (20-for-55) with 12 RBIs. Dowdy is batting .295 (13-for-44) with 10 RBIs, and Davis leads the team with 16 RBIs.

The Falcons (11-8, 8-8 Northwestern) have struggled in the district the last three years, but finished tied for fourth in the district and the players said they noticed teams are respecting them more this season. They're facing teams' top pitchers as opposed to facing a team's third or fourth starter.

The Falcons feel they have a real shot at winning the district tournament.

"I think the sky's the limit for us," Palmerton said. "We have the pitching and we can hit really well. We want a shot at regionals and we want to go out on top."