BY JEREMY GOODE
(Video & Photos by Jeremy Goode for PSD)
PHILADELPHIA -- Perfect -- Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging. Ground out to first. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout looking. Strikeout looking. Strikeout looking. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout looking. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout looking. Strikeout out looking. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout looking. Fly out to first base. Line out to third. Strikeout looking. Strikeout looking. Strikeout swinging.
This was Jack Ingino’s stat line for Westtown School as the Moose faced Germantown Friends School in an in-conference matchup on May 2. A perfect game, 21 batters up and 21 batters down. Of the 21 outs he recorded, 18 of them were strikeouts.
“I’m super happy right now,” Jack Ingino said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team behind me, and to wind down my senior season like this is something special.”
In fact, both squads were challenged offensively. GFS ran out their ace, College of the Holy Cross commit Daniel Mateffy, and he certainly rose to the challenge of handling the number two team in the Friends League. He went five strong scoreless innings, striking out nine and only giving up one hit and two walks.
Even with Ingino flirting with perfection, Westtown’s bats were unable to reward the strong pitching outing. Sophomore Aidan Eager was able to open up the basepaths for Westtown in the top of the third with a walk. Eager was then able to steal second base on a passed ball, but he would eventually be picked off of second base for the third out of the inning, with a nice pick-off move by Mateffy.
“I thought our approach at the plate was OK,” Westtown head coach Kurt Kebaugh said. “Some of our swings with two strikes were not what we practiced on yesterday. I thought we were pulling our head out a little bit but our overall approach was good, it was just the swings we were taking.”
With two outs in the top of the fourth, senior Liam Sayers drilled a line drive single to center field, giving Westtown their first hit of the game and also their hardest hit baseball. Ingino would follow with a strikeout, marking the second inning in a row in which the Moose would fail to score a runner from second base.
Westtown's Senior Pitcher Jack Ingino in game vs. Germantown Friends. (Photo/ Jeremy Goode)
Westtown vs. Germantown Friends. (video/ Jeremy Goode)
Westtown’s Luke Holgate would open up the top half of the fifth with a walk, and he immediately stole second base. After a strikeout, Mark Kotapka grounded out to shortstop, moving Holgate to third base with two outs. Eager would then ground out to Mateffy, keeping the game scoreless going into the bottom of the fifth.
“He’s [Mateffy] is a great pitcher,” Westtown shortstop Jackson Young said. “He has a really fast fastball; his slider is pretty nice, so we were all going up in the first couple innings trying to get his pitch count up since he was on one, so we were just trying to work walks, work counts, work anything really.”
After three innings in a row in which Westtown did not score despite having one runner in scoring position, Ingino, (Lehigh University) responded the best way he knew how in the bottom of the fifth by striking out the side.
Germantown Friends' Senior Pitcher Daniel Mateffy went 5 straight scoreless innings for the Tigers. (photo/ Jeremy Goode)
In the top of the sixth inning, Westtown’s strategy of working every count payed off as they were able to knock Mateffy out of the game due to a recent injury he was still recovering from. Ben Goldberg jumped in for the GFS ace and continued to pitch where Mateffy left off, recording a one-two-three inning.
Ingino would answer with another one-two-three inning of his own, this time with a strikeout and two outs from balls put in play.
“You’re never going to see that again,” Young said. “Jack is so dominant; everything about him, he does not let his foot off the gas.”
It would not be until the seventh inning in which Westtown would ultimately find success behind the plate. After the first two batters recorded outs, Westtown rallied. Holgate blooped a single to right field. Holgate then stole second on a passed ball. Young came up and drove a single to right field, scoring Holgate and giving Westtown a 1-0 led.
“I was just looking to make contact; anything to put the ball in play” Young said. “I was running around first trying not to trip. It was great; very exciting.”
Ingino took the hill for the bottom of the seventh and earned his seventh one-two-three inning of the game with back-to-back-to-back strikeouts. His teammates mobbed him at the pitcher’s mound; even the GFS dugout looked on in amazement.
“Jack’s been a horse for us this year and I know anytime he goes on the mound that one run or two will pretty much seal it,” Kebaugh said. “He delivered for us today and it was only a matter of time until our bats got going.”
While Ingino was excited about his performance on the mound, he was more focused on keeping his squad in second place in the Friends League. For Ingino, a win is a win. Yes, some might be more special than others, but he was just happy to remain one spot behind Friends Central as the season comes to an end and the playoffs begin next week.
“I was telling the team today that if we won today, we are the two-seed,” Ingino said. “We want to put the league on blast; letting everyone know we are not messing around this year.”
Westtown senior pitcher Jack Ingino talks about his perfect game, while dealing with celebratory antics from his teammates - PSD Video by Jeremy Goode
Westtown team members dowsed senior pitcher Jack Ingino with Gatorade after perfect game. (Photo/ Jeremy Goode)
Jackson Young's single drove home the winning run in Westtown's 1-0 win vs, Germantown Friends - PSD Video by Jeremy Goode
Besides the perfect performance Westtown received from their ace, even though baserunners were few and far between Kebaugh noted the timely hitting the team was able to make when they really needed to make a push. For this Westtown team, that clutch play has been there often this season and will have to continue with the Friends League playoffs coming up.
“We got some fighters up there and a young, hungry lineup,” Kebaugh said. “I knew early in the year with our top two pitchers that if we get a couple on the board we can compete in a lot of games. We just have to play good defense… find ways to get on base, and our pitching will be there.”