It’s the top of the sixth at Red Wilson Field, Y-D up by one as the sun starts to sink behind the trees. The tying run for Brewster is on the bases and the winning run is at the plate with one out. Carson Ballard is on the mound, one strikeout shy of tying the Cape League record for most strikeouts in a game this season.
Ballard comes out of the stretch, loads, fires—a swing and a miss for strike three. Not only did he just tie the league record this season, he also established a new career high in single-game strikeouts with 10 in five and two-thirds innings.
“I honestly didn’t fully realize the impact I was making out there at the time, I just kept throwing,” Ballard said. “I noticed hitters kept missing the ball and I thought to myself ‘I could do this for another five innings.’”
Before Tuesday’s game, Ballard’s previous single-game strikeout high was six from this past spring with Georgia Tech. In the game against Georgia State, the redshirt freshman started and threw for five innings. He collected six strikeouts for the Yellow Jackets and gave up no runs.
In four out of his 10 strikeouts on Tuesday, he caught hitters looking on the third strike. Ballard said a big part of this was the success of his outside sinker, coming down and into the zone.
“My outside sinker would run back in and find the zone, so that was working well for me today,” Ballard said. “The other pitch that was working well was my cutter for striking out guys swinging.”
Justin Lee of UCLA threw the last three innings for Y-D on Tuesday. The right-handed pitcher picked up five strikeouts, held the Whitecaps scoreless, and only gave up one hit. The freshman met his school season high for single-game strikeouts this time in the closing slot instead of the relief. He said the key to his success was trusting himself on the mound.
“I felt really good about all my pitches today, fastball out was especially huge for me,” Lee said. “It was all about taking command of every pitch I had and trusting myself.”
Both pitchers threw to Talmadge LeCroy on Tuesday, a new face in the Y-D lineup. After his first game with Y-D last week, LeCroy said he wanted to build relationships with the pitchers and establish trust between each other. Lee said since LeCroy arrived, he has been great to work with.
“I know Talmadge is new, but we’ve created a great bond and instantly clicked,” Lee said. “The support from everyone all around has been awesome.”
Ballard underscored Lee on the outstanding support from the catchers, coaches, and pitchers on the team. He added that they have each impacted him in different ways to help him succeed on the mound.
“The pitching coaches have helped me improve from my last outing to this outing and helped me work on a couple of things,” Ballard said. “The catchers are amazing, they steal strikes for me all the time. And I love the guys in the bullpen. They are a great group to be around and I knew when I went out there today, they had my back in the game, so I wasn’t too worried.”
Photo by Sophie Solarino
