A good day to see Hawthorne’s wrist-flicker fastball
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Yesterday was a great day for baseball out in the Santa Clarita Valley. A nice, warm temperature with a slight, cool breeze made the Crespi-Saugus game I was covering even more enjoyable.
In case you haven’t heard by now, Crespi, who we’ve got ranked No. 1 in The Times’ preseason poll, came out on top with a 4-2 victory over No. 5 Saugus. It marked Crespi Coach Scott Muckey’s 500th win as a coach in the high school and junior college ranks and it showed the world that we know what we’re talking about when it comes to rankings.
However, the thing that impressed me the most about the game was the pitching of Crespi senior Ryan Hawthorne. The kid has one of the weirdest deliveries I’ve ever seen. He pulls through with a typical overhead delivery, but the Loyola Marymount-bound star flicks his wrist just before he lets go of the ball.
Even though it’s a little unorthodox, it’s still effective -- Hawthorne struck out five over four scoreless innings to earn the win. And here’s a quick interview with the wrist-flicker himself:
As for Saugus, Coach John Maggiora wants to see some more production from his offensive stars. I won’t name names (at least for now), but some of the team’s best hitters are off to slow starts at the plate despite some very encouraging winter-ball performances.
Here’s Maggiora’s take on the game:
