Healed Herron becomes Red Devils’ ace
MOUNTAIN PINE — Mountain Pine junior Matthew Herron enjoyed a breakout season as the ace of the staff for a team that finished one game shy of the Class 2A state tournament, but getting there wasn’t easy.
Facing Mount Ida in the third game of the season, Herron’s campaign nearly ended before it even began.
“In the Mount Ida game, I threw my arm out in the first inning after barely even throwing 10 pitches,” Herron said. “It was rough, and it seemed like it all just went downhill after that.”
Over the next few weeks, Herron underwent physical therapy and was issued a strict 30-pitch limit. The junior took it all in stride, making up for lost time after returning to full strength.
Finishing with a 3-1 record,
1.99 ERA and 76 strikeouts in only 38 2/3 innings, Herron is the pitcher of the year on The Sentinel-Record all-Garland
County team.
“He dedicated himself to what he does best on the mound,” Mountain Pine coach
Joseph Alderman said. “He got challenged early on in the year, and he put the time in and worked extra weekends.”
Herron’s unlimited potential was on full display in consecutive games against Blevins and
Cutter Morning Star late in the regular season.
The burly right-hander pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts and one walk in a 4-0 win over Blevins and tossed a three-inning no-hitter in a
15-0 rout of CMS, striking out nine with two walks.
“I started to get my strength back at that point and started to trust my teammates more to make plays behind me,” said Herron.
Herron’s return fueled the Red Devils to four wins in their last six games, followed by a 3-2 victory over Foreman in the first round of the district tournament to secure a berth in the
2A-South regional at Magnet Cove.
A three-sport athlete who also competes in basketball and football, Herron credited Mountain Pine’s miraculous basketball season under first-year coach LaMont Page for increasing his drive for baseball.
The Red Devils bounced back from an 0-20 season to finish 17-10 under Page, coming within one game of the Class 2A tournament.
“It made me more of a competitor and coach expected more out of us,” he said. “I knew that we could do it; we just had to put the extra work in.”
Alderman believes that Herron’s ability to keep the Red Devils in the game led to a relaxed approach at the plate for the lineup. Mountain Pine had five players bat .300 or better, led by Herron with a team-high .435.
“When he’s on the mound, we know that we have a chance against anybody in the state,” Alderman said. “If we can get a couple of runs early, we know that it will knock the other team’s motivation down and then they have an uphill battle with Matt. It builds a lot of confidence throughout the team.”
Herron joined fellow junior Chad Graves (2.49 ERA, 62 strikeouts) and sophomore Joshua Walpole (2.18 ERA, 74 strikeouts) to give Mountain Pine a strong rotation.
With all three returning next season, Alderman expects the team to build on its 8-12 record.
“It really bodes well for us in the future, because I’m not losing any of them,” said Alderman. “If we can hone in a few more things as far as mechanics, these guys are just going to grow and improve. This next year, which is Matt’s senior year and Chad’s senior year, is going to be phenomenal. It’s great for me knowing that if somebody has an off day, I’ve got somebody else that I can throw in there that’s going to give us a good chance to win that ballgame.”
Herron said he and Graves also shouldered the responsibility as on-field leaders for a team that started only one senior.
“Sometimes when we were down, the whole team would get down,” said Herron. “When we had good attitudes and were ready to play, the rest of the team would follow that.”
Improving from a 1-2 record, 4.08 ERA and 59 strikeouts in
34 1/3 innings as a sophomore, Herron is shooting for an even bigger jump from his junior to senior seasons.
“I’m going to put even more effort into next season,” he said. “I’m going to try to get first in the nation in strikeouts, and I want to go to state and try to make a run.”