Fairfax senior Sam Ryan pitched the season’s latest high-strikeout gem in a 7-0 win over Langley last night, begging the question: Are pitchers at the high school level gaining an edge on hitters?
Ryan struck out 16 without walking a batter in tossing a no-hitter against the Saxons, who also struck out 10 times and managed just two hits against McLean senior lefty Jon Clines on Friday.
Already this season, Battlefield senior ace Jake Agnos has set down 17 and 16 batters in early-season outings against C.D. Hylton and Forest Park, two of the area’s top teams. Paul VI Catholic’s Kevin Kelly punched 15 in a game at the Southeastern Baseball Classic in South Carolina - this after striking out eight in his first outing of the season against one of the area’s better hitting teams in Lake Braddock.
Last year, in a well-documented performance, Agnos struck out 21 consecutive batters against Osbourn Park in a game that would eventually be forfeited due to him exceeding the Virginia High School League (VHSL) weekly innings limit. But while the game doesn’t officially count, it might very well serve as a blanket statement that the prep game is no longer dominated by hitters.
Madison’s Matt Favero has two double-digit strikeout games this spring in five-inning outings during Warhawk blowouts, and his cousin, senior Pete Nielsen, has produced some lofty strikeout numbers while being used primarily out of the bullpen. Marshall’s Steven Johel struck out 10 in six innings last night in a 4-2 win over Edison. Bishop O’Connell’s Rafi Vazquez has an 11-strikeout outing to his name, and West Potomac’s Jamie Sara, Lake Braddock's Wade Strain, Stone Bridge's Brett Kreyer and T.C. Williams’ Andrew Tovsky have also put up some impressive strikeout numbers this season.
Herndon’s Antonio Menendez, perhaps the area’s top junior, tossed a no-hitter and struck out 10 in a 2-0 win over South Lakes this past weekend and had a 13-strikeout outing over Spring Break in South Carolina.
Granted, each of these aforementioned pitchers are committed to pitch next year for Division I programs: Ryan at Virginia Commonwealth, Clines at Virginia Military Institute, Agnos at East Carolina, Kelly at James Madison, Favero and Nielsen at Brigham Young, Johel and Vazquez at Coastal Carolina, Sara and Strain at William & Mary, Tovsky at Elon, Kreyer at Lafayette and Menendez at Wake Forest.
Not every arm teams roll out are at the Division I level.
But the high strikeout numbers and low-scoring affairs lead to some questions. Are pitchers this season really that good? Or are area teams just lacking in hitting depth beyond the top couple of hitters in their lineups?
“I think the high [strikeout] numbers are a function of some really advanced and exceptional pitchers in Northern Virginia, like Agnos, Nielsen, Johel, Vazquez, and Ryan,” Marshall coach Aaron Tarr said. “These guys don't just throw hard and exist as ‘prospects’, they're really advanced kids who pound the zone and can attack you in a number of different ways.
“They throw hard, but their secondary stuff is really advanced.”
Briar Woods senior lefty Caleb Barnes had a 10-strikeout outing against Loudoun County last week. C.D. Hylton’s rotation of Trey Shepard, Ryan Billy and Fox Semones have either thrown or combined to throw three no-hitters already this spring. And Loudoun Valley’s Justin Ager tossed a shutout against another one of the area’s top teams, Stone Bridge. Just a few more examples of pitching being ahead of hitting this season.
“The players’ arms now are in shape and capable of throwing at their best at an early stage,” Battlefield coach Jay Burkhart said. “I believe that is why our guys are in midseason form so early in the season. You see guys carrying five, six and seven innings because of it.”
Professional baseball has, thankfully, moved past the ‘PED era’ that produced big offensive numbers but became a black eye for Major League Baseball. Scoring is down at that level as the game has been cleaned up, and more teams are having to manufacture runs rather than rely on the home run.
The collegiate and high school games have placed restrictions on metal bats, which had made amateur fields look very small just a few years back while also putting pitchers in danger of being struck by rocketed line drives. The restrictions come at a time when year-round pitching instruction and advanced measures are being taken to develop a young hurler’s mechanics during the offseason. And the combination of the two has perhaps swayed the competitive balance of the game back in favor of pitchers.
“I do think that a reason for lot of the success of the pitchers are guys are now going to pitching camps such as Complete Game with Shawn Camp and Shawn Cheetam,” Burkhart said. “These are former big leaguers working with groups of high school and middle school pitchers, training them not just the pitching the aspect of it, but the maintenance, arm care and core work.”
Generally, prep hitters in Northern Virginia begin to catch up with the pitchers as winter breaks to spring. Coaches have felt that the bats will heat up as the weather does. But with many factors now swinging the game in favor of pitchers, some coaches think that may not necessarily be the case this year.
“Unlike other years, I don't think it's an early-season thing,” Tarr said. “I think the trend will continue a bit. Those guys might catch up, but the pitching is senior-heavy and I just don't see those guys getting beat much.”
Photos courtesy of the following: Jake Agnos (Lee Agnos), Rafi Vazquez (Bishop O'Connell baseball), Kevin Kelly (Paul VI Catholic baseball) and Matt Favero (Albert Jacquez) in lead photo, Steven Johel (Marshall baseball) and Wade Strain (Lake Braddock baseball) in other photos.
