Lansdowne baseball’s Matt O’Donnell strikes out 15 in 2-1 victory over Western Tech

Lansdowne pitcher Matt O’Donnell wore a cloth mask to protect his face from the chilling wind, but nothing could hide the low 80s heat the senior right-hander was firing in the Vikings’ season-opening 2-1 victory over rival Western Tech at Arbutus Middle School

The senior struck out 15 of the 19 batters he faced and did not allow a hit or a run. He fell two outs short of a no-hitter because he had to be removed because he hit the 105-pitch limit.

He wasn’t sure if he’s ever pitched with a mask before, but wouldn’t hesitate wearing it again. “Even in the summer, I’ll start wearing it,” he joked.

He fanned four batters in a row between the second and third innings and struck out eight in a row, including the side twice in the middle innings.

“I’m just hyped up. First game of the season and I had to come out and show out and do my best, a rival game so that always makes it a little more exciting,” O’Donnell said. “My main goal is to just have fun.”

He had the most fun riding his high fastball.

“I like going upstairs. I get a lot of swing and misses upstairs, so I like to go back to that a lot, especially when I’m up in the count, so it’s pretty effective in my opinion,”  said O’Donnell, who will pitch at Garrett Community College next year.

In the sixth inning, O’Donnell threw 11 of 12 pitches for strikes.

“He definitely got stronger as the game went on,” Lansdowne coach Brad Tippin said.

The closest to a hit against O’Donnell came from the first batter, Jordan Brown, who lined out to third baseman Kade Gregory.

“He’s definitely our ace and one of the team captains,” Tippin said of O’Donnell. “To come out in the first game, not really arm-conditioned yet on a cool day and to be able to throw whatever he threw, he had total command.”

“He’s always going to be dominant and he’s probably going to be an All-County-type pitcher, and we hung in, but we just couldn’t do enough,” Western Tech coach Jason Weiner said.

Three batters reached on walks — one was caught stealing by catcher Derek Ervin — and one reached on an error in the top of the seventh. Ervin also called most of the pitches.

“He’ a sophomore and he’s a rock back there. He gets beat up back there, doesn’t complain, solid player, one of the leaders on the team and he calls a great game,” Tippin said.

At 100 pitches starting the seventh, the first batter, Chris Daniels, reached on an error, but O’Donnell fanned the next batter before being removed for Logan Harkleroad.

Daniels stole second and third and scored after a wild pitch and throwing error, cutting the lead in half. Donovan McVicker got the Wolverines’ only hit with two outs in the seventh before Harkleroad ended the game with a strikeout.

Lansdowne’s first run against Western Tech starter Drew Fitch came in the fourth inning on Mike Lambert’s RBI double. Fitch allowed three hits in four innings. The Vikings added an insurance run against reliever Brown in the top of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Harkleroad.

“We do need to hit a little more, but I think we hit just well enough,” O’Donnell said. “The two pitchers we saw today were pretty good pitchers in my opinion.”

O’Donnell added that the pitch count wasn’t an obstacle, but his cold fingers presented a challenge.

“My hand was pretty cold for the most part of it so I had to adjust to the circumstances, but I tried my best and I think I did pretty well,” O’Donnell said.

Western Tech’s 15 strikeout victims and their coach would surely agree.

“[The bats] will come around. My guys are hungry and they understand what it takes to win,” Weiner said. “This is a tough one to start with, fun to be a part of. I would say if it were a different opponent it would probably be an easier pill to swallow.”

Lansdowne – 000 100 1 – 2 4 2

Western Tech – 000 000 1 – 1 1 3

WP: Matt O’Donnell LP: Drew Fitch

2B: L – Mike Lambert