More memorable pitching performances from Legion

Here are three more memorable pitching performances. Just like last week’s stories, each one below starts with a theme – an example of a quality that can contribute to a pitcher’s success. One of the stories is from several years ago and two are more recent. NOT OVERTHINKING THINGS – David Willhite – David was a major league caliber center fielder – and if you ever watched him play, you know I’m not overstating things at all. He routinely made catches that would put most major leaguers to shame and he could throw a strike from deep in the outfield. He gunned down many runners over the course of his youth and high school career. But Willhite started to struggle with his control when he was 13, so he wasn’t pitching any more by the end of the U13 season. He didn’t pitch at all in U14 baseball, but continued to excel in the outfield. During the U15 season, we had a weekend tournament and ended up playing six games in three days. We had a league game at White Bear Lake on Monday and I had nobody left to pitch.

Twenty minutes before the game, I said to David “I know you haven’t pitched for a couple of years, but I really need you to throw a few innings tonight.” Willhite was happy to take the ball. And he made the most of it. The umpire for that game had a very tight strike zone, which doesn’t seem helpful to a pitcher with a history of control problems. But David went out and pitched the game of his life. He pitched all seven innings and walked just a couple of batters. The White Bear Lake pitcher struggled with his control the whole game, but we didn’t take advantage of it. Dave gave up five hits and four runs, but just two of the runs were earned. We ended up losing the game 4-2. I did try using Dave again a couple of times the next week, but he walked quite a few batters and that was the last time he pitched that season. But for that one night, everything clicked for him. He just took the ball, went out and threw strikes. GOING WITH THE PITCH THAT’S WORKING – Hunter Lindstrom – Hunter is a kid who loves to pitch and works hard at his craft. He’s had a good deal of success at the high school level the past couple of seasons and should help the Wildcats have a good shot at the state tournament during his senior season in 2013.

Last summer, in VFW baseball, we were playing at Forest Lake. Here’s what we wrote in the Press: “Hunter Lindstrom used his devastating curve ball to allow no earned runs in seven innings. Lindstrom and Quade Zupko each doubled to drive in two runs as the Wildcats beat Forest Lake 6-3 Wednesday, June 15 at Schumacher Field in Forest Lake. Lindstrom struck out four, allowed three hits and had the Rangers pounding the ball into the ground the whole game.” Hunter struggled in the first inning. He was having trouble throwing his fastball for strikes, but he seemed to be able to get his excellent curve over the plate. By the second inning, he was throwing more curves than fastballs. The Rangers couldn’t touch his curveball. And it didn’t matter if he could get his fastball over or not – the Rangers swung at it no matter where it was because they couldn’t deal with the curve. They weren’t having fun batting against Hunter, but we were sure having fun watching him. SECOND WIND – Dylan Magnuson – Dylan is a coach’s dream.

He has a high baseball IQ, an easygoing manner and a good attitude. And he’s also a pretty good player. Last summer, we had a VFW home game against Irondale. At game time, it was 95 degrees and very humid. I was going to try to get a combination of three or four pitchers to put together seven innings. I handed the ball to Dylan to start, hoping he would give us three innings. A story in the Press tells us what happened: “…a third inning Wildcat error opened the door for all three Irondale runs as the Knights beat the Wildcats 3-2 on Wednesday, July 20 at Chisago Lakes. [Dylan] Magnuson turned in a splendid complete game pitching performance, allowing no earned runs on four hits, striking out eight and walking just two batters. He got stronger as the game went on, retiring the last ten batters he faced.” Dylan worked hard in the first couple of innings and put up a couple of goose eggs. In the third, he struggled. He was sweating profusely and looked death warmed over. After the third out, he sighed and walked toward the dugout. I met him a few feet in front of it. “Thanks, Dylan,” I said. “We’ll get somebody else out there next inning.” “I’m okay, coach,” he replied. “I can give you another inning.” “Okay,” I said, “but don’t wipe yourself out out there.”

He went out for the fourth inning. While he still seemed somewhat tired, he had regained a little of the bounce in his step. When I asked him if he wanted to come out after the fourth, he looked me in the eye and said “No – I’ve got this.” So he went out there for the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and got stronger each inning. He didn’t give up any more runs. And when he came out after the top of the seventh, he looked like he could pitch ten more innings. It’s too bad we couldn’t score enough runs to win the game for him. He struggled early, but played through it and got stronger as the game went on. I hope you enjoyed this week’s installment. Next week, look for an article about the Wildcats’ comeback player of the year. Any guesses as to who that might be?