Zach is an 18-yr-old senior at St. Louis University High School and pitches on the varsity baseball team. His games are often early in the afternoon but this week he played St. Mary's at 8pm. I got home from work in time for the two of us to ride to the game together. Seemed a little like "old times."
Zach came on to pitch in relief in the 5th inning of a 3-2 game with bases loaded and only 1 out. The first batter Zach faced was Taylor Stoulp. Taylor and Zach are teammates on the St. Louis Bruins baseball club. How fun that they would match up during the high school season.
Zach started Taylor off with an offspeed called strike one. On the second pitch, also an offspeed pitch, Taylor lined a foul ball over the first base coaches head for strike two. The boys traded smiles with each other and comments only the two of them were able to hear. On the third pitch, Taylor lofted a lazy fly ball to short left field. The left fielder made the catch as the runner on third launched himself down the third base line. The throw was a strike to the catcher on a line from left field. The catcher made a sweeping tag of the speedster from third sliding into the plate. The umpire made a passionate "out" call and the inning was over. Three pitches, two outs and the end of the St. Mary's rally. Wow...
Zach returned to the mound in the 6th inning and was absolutely delightful to watch. There are many boys at this age who throw hard, Zach uses a lot of off-speed pitches and strategy to get his outs. I can't describe the feelings I had as I stood off the field as he cruised through the 6th inning strking out two batters who watched fastballs blow by them with two strikes and walk back to the dugout shaking their heads. I remember the times Zach and I used to watch the Braves and guess what pitch was going to come next. He really demonstrates his analytic side when he's pitching.
Zach got into some trouble in the 7th. He walked the first batter, gave up a sharp single to right to the second batter and then walked the third. With bases loaded and no one out, he was going to have to pull a few surprises out of the bag to get out of this one. He did it. Another strikeout, a short fly to right that didn't score a run and a final strikout and the SLUH boys had won another game by the final score of 5-2. Wow, what a truly awesome experience for the dad of a pitcher. Zach overcame some real adversity - there's an experience that will pay off somewhere down the road.
If you'd like any more color commentary or "pitch-by-pitch" descriptions of the plays of the game, feel free to comment! - Proud Papa J :-)
