O’Rourke delivers early for Sooners
Sydney hosts Dartmouth tonight, Saturday
In his first full season on the mound for the Sydney Sooners, Reilly O’Rourke already brings plenty to the table despite still being a teenager.
The 19-year-old from Howie Centre spent two years at the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball in Vauxhall, Alta. He played a part-time role with the Sooners last summer, and was recruited to play a season of junior college baseball with the Garden City Bronco Busters in Garden City, Kansas.
In the fall, he’ll take a crack at NCAA Division 2 with Minot State University in Minot, N.D. Although he wouldn’t turn down a pro offer down the road, he plans to enter the science program in the hopes of becoming a physiotherapist.
“Baseball wise, it’s about the same (as Garden City),” said the 6-6, 235-pound hurler, who competed for Nova Scotia at the 2013 Canada Games. “Education-wise, this is what’s going to help me towards my career. It’s going to set me up well for the future I hope.”
O’Rourke has enjoyed a solid rookie campaign so far. He’s among the league leaders in wins and sports a 3-2 mark, a 5.11 earned-run average and has 25 strikeouts.
“I started out the year pretty good,” said O’Rourke, who won his first three decisions. “My last couple of outings have been a little rough, but I’m hoping to get back on track this weekend.
“It’s just like anywhere, really. If you make mistakes, good hitters will hit you. You just have to always compete out there.”
Sooners skip Jim (Rico) McEachern said O’Rourke and the rest of the Sooners’ rotation will face hitters that will only get tougher as the summer wears on.
“Reilly’s had a good rookie season,” he said. “There are some good hitting components on each team in this league, and if you’re going to step to the hill, you’ll have to be ready to face that any given weekend.”
The Sooners (10-7) have a slim half-game lead over the Kentville Wildcats (9-7) for top spot in the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League standings. Sydney faces a fourth-place Dartmouth Moosehead Dry team (9-10) this weekend that’s recently shaken off a slow start.
“Dartmouth has been trailing the pack, but I told our guys that you can be guaranteed they’ll be there in the end,” said McEachern. “They have too much history of winning, they know how to win and they have a core of players that can help them achieve that.”
The teams meet tonight at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. at Susan McEachern Memorial Ball Park in Sydney.