Pitts makes brief stay in St. Joe one to remember
By Jacob Meikel
Many Mustangs pitchers have stepped up to the mound, but none had been able to do what Sam Pitts had accomplished over the weekend.
Pitts became the first pitcher in team history to pitch a perfect game in a 17-0 shutout victory in seven innings over the Nevada Griffons on Saturday. Just his first summer with the team, the Arizona native etched his name in St. Joseph baseball history. It’s not common for Mustangs pitchers to pitch as high as seven innings, but everything was rolling that night for the soon-to-be college sophomore.
“It was just one of those rare nights where I was feeling good, and throwing strikes and defense played great,” Pitts said.
Pitts ended the game with a stat line of eight strikeouts, no hits and no walks. Pitchers who throw no-hitters can give up walks while still accomplishing the feat, but because Pitts didn’t walk a single batter, he earns the “perfect game.” Pitts can acknowledge after the fact that what he did on Saturday was historic, but at the time, he wanted to tread lightly and not think too much about what was happening for fear it could have had a different outcome.
“As the game went on, the last thing you want to do is say [perfect] because you can’t jinx it,” Pitts said. But I think everybody in the dugout knew what was going on.”
Hailing from Sierra Vista, Arizona, Pitts has made himself right at home in the place where his dad used to call home in St. Joseph. Pitts also has family members in the area that have made his brief stay in St. Joseph worthwhile. Though he is quite a distance from his parents, who are still in Arizona, he does have the band of brothers he’s formed inside the Mustangs clubhouse that make spending the summer in St. Joseph memorable.
“I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no clue that I would have some of the friends that I have in there, and it’s been so much fun,” Pitts said.
Pitts says he isn’t sure when he will head to the mound again for the Mustangs this season, but mentioned that it could be in the MINK League Championship series if the team does make it that far in the postseason.
