Lansdowne pitcher Matt O'Donnell wore a cloth mask to protect his face from the cold wind, but the senior right-hander wore a cloth mask to protect his face from the cold wind during the Vikings' 2-1 season-opening win over rival Western Tech. The excitement of the early 1980s could not be hidden.Arbutus Junior High School
The senior struck out 15 of the 19 batters he faced and did not allow a single hit or run. He reached the pitch limit of 105 pitches and was ejected with two outs from a no-hitter.
He wasn't sure if he had ever pitched with a mask on before, but he had no hesitation in wearing one again. “I'll start wearing them even in the summer,” he joked.
From the second to third innings, he attacked four batters in a row and had eight consecutive strikeouts, including two in the middle inning.
“I'm just excited. It's the first game of the season and I had to come out and come out strong and do my best. It's a rivalry game so it's going to be more exciting than usual,” O'Donnell said. Ta. “My main goal is just to have fun.”
He had a lot of fun riding his high fastball.
“I like to go upstairs. I get a lot of swings and a lot of whiffs in the air, so I tend to go back there, especially when the count is up, so it's pretty effective in my opinion. ,” said O’Donnell, who pitches for Garrett. Community college next year.
In the sixth inning, O'Donnell threw 11 of 12 pitches for strikes.
“He definitely got stronger as the game went on,” Lansdowne coach Brad Tippin said.
The closest person to a hit against O'Donnell was leadoff batter Jordan Brown, who lined out to third baseman Cade Gregory.
“He's definitely one of our aces and one of our team captains,” Tippin said of O'Donnell. “He was in complete command, coming into his first game on a cool day when his arm wasn't conditioned yet and being able to throw whatever he threw.”
“He's always been dominant and will probably be an All-County type pitcher. We hung in there, but we just didn't do enough,” Western Tech coach Jason Weiner said.
Three batters reached on walks, one on a stolen base by catcher Derek Irvin, and one on an error in the top of the seventh inning. Irvin also called most of the pitches.
“He was a sophomore and he was a rock back then. He didn't complain when he got beat up out there, he was a solid player and one of the leaders on the team and he had a great game,” Tippin said. Ta.
On the 100th pitch starting in the seventh inning, leadoff batter Chris Daniels reached on an error, but O'Donnell encouraged the next batter and was ejected for Logan Harkleroad.
Daniels stole second and third and scored after a wild pitch and a throwing error, cutting the lead in half. With two outs in the seventh inning, Donovan McVicker had the Wolverines' only hit, and Harkleroad struck out to end the game.
Lansdowne's first RBI against Western Tech starting pitcher Drew Fitch came on Mike Lambert's RBI double in the fourth inning. Fitch allowed three hits in four innings. The Vikings added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning on Harkleroad's two-out RBI single against reliever Brown.
“I need to hit a little more, but I think I hit enough,” O'Donnell said. “The two pitchers I saw today were pretty good pitchers in my opinion.''
O'Donnell added that pitch count wasn't a hindrance, but cold fingers were.
“My hands were pretty cold for the most part so I had to adapt to the conditions, but I tried my best and I think I did pretty well,” O’Donnell said.
I'm sure Western Tech's 15 strikeout victims and their coaches would agree.
“[The bats] It will come around. Our players are hungry and understand what it takes to win,” Weiner said. “This is hard at first, but it's fun to be a part of. If it was a different opponent, it would probably be an easier pill to swallow.”
Lansdowne – 000 100 1 – 2 4 2
western tech – 000 000 1 – 1 1 3
WP: matt o'donnell LP: Drew Fitch
2B: L – Mike Lambert
