Hauck strikes out 11 as Foothill tops Las Vegas
Las Vegas High starting pitcher Brandon Smith was spectacular against Foothill on Wednesday afternoon.
Foothill starter Andrew Hauck was even better.
Hauck out-dueled Smith by striking out 11 over six scoreless innings in a 1-0 home win over the Wildcats. The senior lefty and College of Southern Nevada signee also scored the lone run — unearned — in the first inning after reaching on an error.
He allowed two hits, walked two and earned quite a bit of praise from Falcons coach Matt Iglitz.
“When Andrew takes the ball, we expect good performances,” Iglitz said. “But what we’ve got in the last few weeks has been just flat out dominant.”
No kidding.
Hauck was 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 22 innings before facing Las Vegas on Wednesday, and started the game by striking out the side.
He took advantage of a misplayed popup in the bottom of the first inning, scored on Chayse Paren- teau’s RBI ground-out and overpowered Wildcats’ hitters for five more innings before ceding the mound to closer Kelton Lachelt.
“I’m always confident,” Hauck said. “Scoreboard is definitely a factor, but every time I pitch I’m just throwing, (trying to get) a zero every inning.”
Smith worked through jams in the second and fourth innings, and completed the game with four hits, three strikeouts and a walk to give Las Vegas a chance to win.
The Wildcats loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but Lachelt preserved the victory by inducing a game-ending flyout to right fielder Gage Streit.
“This game was a playoff
time atmosphere,” Hauck said. “It’s going to show later on in the playoffs.”
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @Bysamgordon on Twitter.