Eastern baseball begins South Jersey title defense with a Dawson gem

VOORHEES – Rob Christ admits he’s never happy.

However, the head coach of the Eastern Regional High School baseball team came close to experiencing the emotion on Thursday even if it lasted just a couple of innings.

Behind six shutout innings by junior right-hander Logan Dawson, the Vikings opened their South Jersey Group 4 title defense with a commanding 7-0 win over Pennsauken at Joe Hartmann Field.

Fifth-seeded Eastern (21-6) will travel to fourth-seeded Cherokee (16-8) for Wednesday’s quarterfinal. The two teams split the regular-season series with Eastern earning a 4-3 win on April 8 while Cherokee won the rematch 3-2 on May 6.

More: Get ready for the South Jersey high school baseball tournament

What does Eastern have to do to make another deep run in the tournament? Christ knows the answer.

“I’d like to see us do a little better in terms of continuing to put pressure offensively,” the head coach said. “Some of our guys need to have better at-bats, have a better sense of what the opposing pitcher is trying to do. If we can put additional pressure on their pitcher, then it makes our team all the more difficult to play against.”

And that’s exactly what Eastern accomplished in the early frames against Pennsauken.

The Vikings displayed patience at the plate (four walks and a hit by pitch) and showed aggressiveness on the base paths (which led to three throwing errors). The result was a 5-0 lead after two frames.

“I will say that the first couple of innings, we did the things we needed to do,” Christ said, almost breaking a smile. “They were ready to go. That was a good pitcher over there and when you come out and start to pound offensively, it puts them on the ropes.”

Dawson dealing again

Dawson has given Eastern plenty of moments to be ecstatic about, too.

Coming from a family that is considered Eastern athletic royalty, Logan Dawson is making a name for himself. The three-sport athlete followed in his father’s (Dave) footsteps as the starting quarterback for the Vikings.

Armed with a solid four-pitch mix, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Dawson stuck out 10 over his six innings of work. He threw 99 pitches before being lifted after six innings. Cade Michalski completed the shutout, pitching the seventh.

Dawson, who fired a complete-game, two-hit shutout in last year’s quarterfinal round against Egg Harbor Township, said while this is a new year, the philosophy remains the same.

“You gotta go get it, gotta earn it,” said Dawson, who lowered his ERA south of 2.25 ERA with the outing. “We just do our own thing. We got a bunch of studs on this team.”

Dawson says he has learned plenty from members of his family, including his aunts: Rachel, who was a three-time Olympian and was the National Player of the Year at North Carolina in field hockey, along with Natalie and Sarah, who both starred at Iowa and were members of the U.S. National team. Logan’s sister, Kylie, is a junior at Indiana University.

“We’ve talked about having a good mindset and work ethic,” Logan said. “The biggest thing is with recruiting. They’ve all been through it.”

Logan Dawson says he hopes to land at a college in the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Big 10.

Christ said Dawson seems to shine on the mound.

“(Dawson) has a lot more composure out there in that role,” Christ said. “He throws four pitches for strikes. In high school, if you can throw two pitches for strikes, it’s difficult for hitters. He has an outstanding changeup, excellent slider and curveball and his fastball can neutralize hitters.”

Dawson’s only trouble came in the fifth, but his defense kept the shutout intact when left fielder Rich Iuliucci fielded a double down the line, hit shortstop Sam Winsett, who made a great relay throw to Anthony Cataldo to cut down a runner at the plate.

Eastern added some insurance runs in the fourth as Cataldo roped a two-run triple.

Pennsauken's progress this season

While it was a difficult finish to its season, Pennsauken made significant strides this spring. The squad finished 12-8, which included a share of the Burlington County Scholastic League Patriot Division title.

“Pennsauken baseball is back on the map because of my players' hard work,” Pennsauken head coach Rolando Gautier said. “They were committed to getting in the weight room during the winter, they were committed to our recovery process for our pitchers and they were committed to our offensive approach.

“Now, you can be as committed as you want to make the plays and hit, but baseball is going to be baseball and you have to show up when it matters. We were one big defensive play from making it a much closer game.”

Pennsauken committed four errors that helped lead to three runs in the first inning. The team never recovered.

Gautier said it wasn’t just the impressive play on the field that he would remember about his team.

“Some of our key players had to jump through hoops to become eligible to play this season,” he said. “I’m going to remember how hard they worked to get on the field.”

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Eastern opened its South Jersey title defense behind the strong pitching of Logan Dawson