Warning, proud dad alert!!!
Last weekend, my son (the subject of this thread) was called up on varsity as an extra arm for a HS tournament. The varsity had a pre-district game scheduled for the following Tuesday and the coach wanted to save the top 2 arms for those games. Despite resting the top pitchers, the team was doing well in the tournament - winning the first three games. My son didn’t play in those first three games, but on the fourth game, he got the call - to start!!!
Not only was this his first game on varsity as a freshman, it was for the tournament title, and… it would secure the first winning season for the program in years. No pressure!
Well, he was nervous at first (not as nervous as me), but he settled down and pitched great. He mixed it up well and kept the ball down for the most part and allowed just one unearned run on 2 hits in three innings to get the win (8-1). What a great experience. He had only seen the mound twice on JV because he was the starting catcher, but his love is pitching. Now he’s got the varsity coach’s eye for next year! Here’s a clip of his first varsity strikeout.