Through the Maine South baseball team’s first 13 games, junior Alex O’Malley would enter a game as a late-inning reliever, pitch an inning or two, and then exit the game.
More Top Picks Best Rolling Duffel Bags
A greater opportunity knocked for the right-handed O’Malley on April 20 in Park Ridge when he got his first varsity start. While the Hawks lost 5-1 to Glenbrook South, O’Malley made the opportunity count.
“(O’Malley) kept them without a hit for almost five innings. He was outstanding,” Maine South coach Bill Milano said. “He earned another start. That’s a no-brainer because of the job he did.”
Aided by a handful of Maine South errors, Glenbrook South scored all five of its runs in the first two innings. O’Malley bore down thereafter and went on to throw roughly 100 pitches in a complete-game effort.
Two days after Glenbrook South beat the Hawks 12-1 in Glenview, O’Malley threw a two-seam fastball with great movement and a highly-effective curveball to slow down the Titans’ offense.
“I have to tip my hat to him,” Glenbrook South coach Steve Stanicek said. “If they would have caught the ball a little better early on, it’s a different game. (O’Malley) pitched very well.”
O’Malley was on the sophomore team last season and has adjusted to facing varsity hitters.
“The hitters are definitely more aggressive at this level,” O’Malley said. “I used to be able to blow my fastball past somebody and now I have to locate it a lot better. My two-seam fastball moves in on a righty and away from a lefty, and it was working (on April 20).”
O’Malley added: “Where last year I mainly threw a changeup and a fastball, over the offseason I worked a lot more on developing my curveball because I wasn’t happy with it.”
Milano called on O’Malley to start because the Hawks played four games in four days last week, and a total of six games in eight days.
“He pitched in three or four games previously and he’s been really good,” Milano said.
O’Malley continued his run of success against the Titans. In one stretch between the third and seventh innings, O’Malley faced 14 Glenbrook South batters without giving up a hit. He did, however, hit two of them.
“He was throwing strikes and mixing up his curveball and fastball,” Milano said. “And because of his arm angle, his fastball moves and it usually misses the barrel.
“(Glenbrook South) barreled a lot of balls against us on (April 18). They had 10 or 11 hits in that game, but not (on April 20).”
O’Malley hasn’t pitched a complete game since last season, but he showed no signs of struggling. Milano said O’Malley’s more side-armed delivery helps keep shoulder stress to a minimum.
“He kept getting stronger as the game went on,” Milano said. “He was at about a 100 pitches so we had someone warming up, but he looked strong.”
Per IHSA rules implemented this year, if a pitcher throws between 76-105 pitches in a game, he faces a mandatory four-day rest period before he can pitch again.
O’Malley said he felt good after the game, but noted, “I won’t really know until I see how I feel tomorrow.”
Game notes
* The Hawks scored their lone run on an RBI single by junior Declan Griffin in the seventh. Senior Jaiden Ortiz, who led off the inning with a single up the middle, scored.
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
More Top Picks Best Low Blue Light Monitors For Eye Strain
Twitter @Pioneer_Press