In his first appearance in over a week, Oklahoma right-hander Michael Catalano didn’t skip a beat coming out of the Y-D bullpen on Thursday when he retired the first 10 Hyannis hitters he faced with six strikeouts.
Catalano has been a shining star for a Y-D pitching staff that is currently tied for second on the Cape with a 3.07 ERA. Following Thursday’s outing, Catalano has now allowed just one earned run in his last 8.2 innings pitched and is third in the Cape League among qualified pitchers with a tremendous 16.03 K/9.
These high strikeout numbers come as no surprise considering Catalano’s impressive 11.67 K/9 in 22 appearances during his freshman season with the Sooners. One area that has been different for Catalano so far this summer is the length that he’s been providing out of the bullpen. After not going more than two innings throughout his entire freshman year, he’s thrown 3+ innings in each of his past two outings with Y-D.
“Obviously get extended and throw some more innings out here,” Catalano said when speaking about his goals this summer following the appearance against Harwich on June 25. “Working on a pitch to put hitters away quickly, throwing first-pitch strikes and getting ahead of hitters.”
He executed all of those goals in his outing on Thursday, throwing first-pitch strikes to 10 of the 13 batters that he faced and going beyond three innings for the first time in either his collegiate or summer season.
Catalano entered in relief of Hunter Watkins (Oklahoma State) in a crucial spot early in the game, as Hyannis had runners on second and first with two outs in the fourth inning. He got his collegiate teammate Jason Walk to roll one over to Jack Bell (TCU) at second base for the final out of the inning.
The fifth inning is when Catalano really began to display his dominant stuff, facing 2-3-4 in the Harbor Hawks’ lineup. He started the frame by getting Ryan McKay (Michigan State) to strike out on three pitches, then finished Jaxon Willits (Oklahoma) with a breaking ball for the second out. Catalano turned to his fastball to complete the stellar inning, getting Gabe Camacho (UC San Diego) to whiff at a 93 MPH heater to strike out the side.
Along with his pitching prowess, Catalano made an outstanding play in the field to start the sixth inning. On a soft grounder off the bat of Ray Velazquez (Austin Peay State), Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) flipped the ball to Catalano, who extended his leg to just barely beat Velazquez to first base.
Catalano continued to cruise on the mound, throwing 33 strikes in 44 pitches while he retired the first 10 hitters that he faced. He capped off the seventh inning by setting Brody Briggs (Arizona State) down on three pitches and getting Walk to swing-and-miss at a 94 MPH fastball for his sixth punch-out of the night.
On a pair of doubles from McKay and Willits to start the eighth inning, Catalano surrendered his first earned run since his first appearance of the summer on June 16. That run was all the Harbor Hawks needed, as they took home a 3-2 victory after the game was called due to weather.
Despite the loss, Catalano has now recorded back-to-back outings with six strikeouts and holds a 1.10 ERA in his past three appearances.
Catalano and the rest of Y-D will look to get immediate revenge on the West Division leader when they host the Harbor Hawks at 5 p.m. on Friday.
