Ryan Olson, the budding star in question, is a junior hurler for Upland (Calif.) Western Christian School. He’s the newest name in the school’s arsenal of strong pitching, with his final home outing of the regular season — a 6-0 victory against Murietta (Calif.) Calvary Murrieta School — proof of his dominance. Olson completely dominated the Calvary Murrieta hitters, striking out 20 batters in 6 2/3 innings. Yet, Olson’s dominance wasn’t enough to earn him a complete game, for what many might consider a rather noble reason: He was removed to make way for a senior pitcher because the home finale also served as Western Christian’s senior day.
My personal 14 year old All-Texas Baseball pitching story is eerie reminiscent of this. I will tell you my story in cliff notes form: (Must read) [Follow me @TravisHouser]
- Houston Regionals semifinals.
- I've pitched 5 2/3 out of 6 innings of 15 year old tournament baseball.
- I've pitched only 78 pitches and 0 hits or walks allowed.
- A PERFECT GAME!
- One batter remaining, the coach comes out to talk to me.
- I wave him off and am quoted to say, "Fuck Off" (according to my catcher).
- The coach doesn't fuck off, but he decides to fuck up.
- Pulling me, with 200 mothers, fathers and siblings in the stands (on both teams) somewhat booing him in disgrace.
- He puts in his son, who threw a 50 mph changeup while he tells me to rest my arm and gives me an icepack.
- We were up 2-0.
- First batter, his son walks. There goes my perfect game.
- Next batter, his son gives up a single. There goes my no-hitter.
- Next batter, his son gives up a home-run with his amazing 50-mph changeup. There goes the tournament.
- Travis Houser got yelled at for a hour for throwing his glove and icepack at the dumbest coach in America. He has yet to be dethroned by this Senior Day coach.
No comments:
Post a Comment