Carl Albert pitcher throws 12-strikeout no-hitter
The Carl Albert baseball team all huddled around senior pitcher Ezra Gustafson and cheered him on.
He had accomplished a surmountable feat many pitchers dream of.
Gustafson threw a 12-strikeout nohitter to beat Guthrie 8-0 on Monday. The senior routinely found his spots throwing fastballs and sliders.
Staying away from the pitcher and not mentioning his zero hit streak has been an unspoken rule in baseball for years. But Carl Albert head baseball coach Tim LaValley said he had to mention the no-hitter after the sixth inning. One reason.
After six innings, Gustafson, an Arkansas Little Rock signee had already thrown 103 pitches. The OSSAA rules state, no pitcher may begin a new inning or make entry to an inning as a pitcher that has exceeded 120 pitches that day.
But LaValley didn’t want his star pitcher to even touch the limit. So, he gave him one message.
“We can’t go out there and try to pitch around people, you just got to throw it,” LaValley said to Gustafson. “You got to throw it down the middle and minimize your pitches and trust your defense. I don’t want to have to come get you because of a pitch count.”
Ezra struck out the first batter in three pitches. The next two batters hit a ground ball to first base after two pitches each. The Carl Albert baseball team huddled around Gustafson in celebration after the final out.
“I was happy for him,” LaValley said. “We had some good performances that day at the plate too so these kids, they’re a good bunch of players.”