May 13, 2003
CUMBERLAND
Twenty years from now, half of the city will claim to have been at Allegany yesterday afternoon and will be telling the other half about the best pitched high school baseball game they ever saw.
So, let’s settle this thing right now, before it gets started. Half of the city wasn’t there. But the several hundred who were there, many standing two and three deep along Sedgwick Street, saw perhaps the most dominating pitching performances in a single game in Maryland high playoff history.
Allegany’s Aaron Laffey and Williamsport’s Nick Adenhart combined for 33 strikeouts and two walks. And despite the great number of strikeouts, Laffey (19 strikeouts) threw only 102 pitches, and Adenhart (14 strikeouts) threw only 82.
Both are now 6-1. Laffey, a senior who has yet to allow an earned run this season, fanned 10 of the first 11 batters he faced. Adenhart, who had a 1.37 ERA entering the game, whiffed 12 of the final 14 he faced.
The only run scored was unearned.
From every angle, it quickly became a game to watch, savor, and admire.
“It’s the best game I’ve ever worked,’’ said home plate umpire Jim Holler, who has been umpiring for more than 25 years. “I’ve worked games with good pitchers before, but not with two ... never with two of the caliber of those two. They were incredible. And you hate to see a kid lose with a no-hitter. But that’s baseball ... it’s just one of those things.
“I really enjoyed working the game. It’s a game I won’t forget, and in a few years both of those boys will be making some big-time money.”
Laffey is expected to be taken early in this year’s amateur draft. Adenhart was ranked the top junior prospect in the nation earlier this year by Baseball America magazine.
“I think they are the best two pitchers in the state,’’ said Williamsport coach Rob Steiner. “To get a draw like that, and have to face a pitcher like that,” he said of Laffey, “... it’s not really much of a reward for your regular season.
“But that’s going to happen. That’s baseball. Just one or two key plays can be the difference in a game. We tried to bunt, we tried to get runners on, but at some point someone has to step up and get a hit.”
No player, on either side, was able to avoid striking out. The only run was scored by Timmy King, who took one for the team. He was hit by a pitch that hit 84 on one of the major league scout’s radar guns, stole second and eventually scored on a squeeze bunt by Justin Bussard.
“It was probably the second-best game I’ve pitched this year. The first game of the year was a perfect game, and you can’t get any better than that,’’ said Laffey.
Behind the backstop, there were major league scouts from Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Minnesota, San Diego, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston and the New York Yankees.
It’s been a common sight at Allegany games this year.
“I’ve gotten used to it,’’ said Laffey. “You just have to go out and throw and have fun. Relax, and just pitch. If you do that, things will fall in place.”
It takes courage to be a catcher, especially when the pitchers are throwing 90 miles per hour. Shane McDade has been Laffey’s personal catcher, and admitted the palm of his hand was hurting a little bit as he headed to the locker room.
“Today, it was an A-plus,’’ he said, grading Laffey’s performance. “I mean, everything he threw was nasty. Everything was pretty much perfect.
“His curve ball was probably the best it’s been all year. To catch Aaron is a privilege. He’s a great athlete and a great friend. It’s a challenge to catch him, but I don’t mind. It’s fun.”
Fun to watch, difficult to believe, and impossible to forget.
Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. Contact Mike Mathews at mmathews@times-news.com.
Mike Mathews - Sports
Laffey vs. Adenhart: A battle to the finish, a game for the ages
- Mike Mathews - Sports
-
-
The one, the only Charley Miller
Thousands of golfers have teed it up at the local country clubs and golf courses over the years.
But there was only one Charley Miller. -
Be prepared not just a motto for Boy Scouts
Expect the unexpected.
If you do, you will never be surprised by what happens. -
Alco advances, ousts Fort Hill
Allegany shook off some early rust, ended the first half with a bang and turned back a determined Fort Hill comeback attempt in the second for a 74-63 victory in their Class 1A West Section Semifinal Thursday night at Campobello.
-
Ties are for the neck, not the City
It wasn’t supposed to happen. It rarely has.
The last time it did, Bill Clinton was President. O.J. Simpson’s murder trial had just begun. The Dow Jones hit 4,000 for the first time ever. Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s record by playing in his 2,131st straight game. Michael Jordan ended a 17-month retirement and baseball odyssey and returned to the Bulls. Tiger Woods won the U.S. Amateur Championship. -
Roberts finds new role, challenge at Liberty
There are many secrets to success.
Actually, they’re not secrets at all. We know them, no matter if we’re an athlete, chef, businessman or bus driver. -
Time for everyone to take a ‘T’
Technically speaking, it’s become a bit of a problem.
And it raised its ugly head Friday night when four technical fouls were called in the Bishop Walsh-Allegany City League boys basketball game. Three were against Bishop Walsh. -
New year ushers in new feeling at Bishop Walsh
To say the mood at Bishop Walsh after Friday evening’s City League opener was a tad different than a year ago would be the understatement of the century.
-
They play, and it just happens
Fort Hill football coach Todd Appel has tried his best to describe his team’s turnaround from a couple of early-season blowouts and its ability to now find ways to win during a seven-game streak that has put the Sentinels on the doorstep of another region championship.
-
Déjà vu, 21-20
“I’m totally thrilled with our kids. I’m totally thrilled with everything that went on tonight,’’ said Fort Hill coach Todd Appel. “They kept the faith and kept on digging. They never gave up at all.”
-
Keyser rolls over Frankfort
Second-ranked Keyser dominated the first half, turned the Mineral Bowl into a runaway and walked away with county bragging rights for the eighth time in nine years with a 32-7 victory over fifth-ranked Frankfort Friday evening.
- More Mike Mathews - Sports Headlines
-
The one, the only Charley Miller
