Adelphi graduate Dillon McNamara had been playing in the New York Penn League with the Staten Island Yankees for the past year. Yesterday he found himself on the mound in Reading, PA as the starting pitcher for the Double-A Trenton Thunder.
The jump is fairly significant having skipped over two levels of the minor leagues. Injuries had created a void in the Trenton rotation and caused a need for a capable starting pitcher. They called on the 6’5″ McNamara who had been dominating the Penn League since being converted into a starting pitcher. He had compiled a 1.76 ERA over three starts spanning 15 innings, while registering a 14/2 K/BB ratio.
Reading entered the game with a 35-52 record, and for the first three innings they played like it. The Trenton Thunder scored a run early on to give McNamara a 1-0 lead to work with. He dominated to the tune of three hit less innings with four strikeouts. He faced one over the minimum with the lone base runner coming on a hit by pitch in the second.
Of course, Double-A hitters are known for making adjustments and that’s precisely what they did. After the first four batters reached based, McNamara was lifted in favor of Fred Lewis, who allowed all the runners to score to skew the pitching line to 3+ innings, 4 runs.
The offense for the Thunder only mounted one run and the Adelphi grad was tagged with the loss.
He will most likely return to the Penn League, but with the way he has performed this season, it would be shocking if he didn’t receive a promotion to Charleston or Tampa by the end of the year.
