Rowan Smyth Brings His Ace Stuff For The EP Mustangs, Hurling 18 Ks Against Shepard Astros

EVERGREEN PARK, IL - Senior Evergreen Park Community High School baseball pitcher Rowan Smyth had one of the most dominant outings on the mound a Mustang hurler has ever had during the team's 4-0 Monday win at Shepard.

Smyth struck out 18 Shepard batters over 6.2 innings pitched, gave up no runs and only one hit as Evergreen Park picked up their 23rd victory of the season. (Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood threw 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Houston Astros in 1998.)

"Everything was working for me. I had a feel for all of my pitches," said Smyth, a four-year Mustang varsity baseball player who will continue his baseball career at Lewis University next year.

"When everything is working for you, you throw every pitch with confidence and that's what I did," he added.

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EPCHS Baseball Head Coach Andrew Massey said Smyth “showed his ace stuff” in the victory.

“His fastball was overpowering,” Massey said. “He was in the zone with his off-speed stuff, too, and kept every one of his batters in balance.”

Massey said he would have left the ace hurler in the game to finish off the complete game, but IHSA rules that only allow pitchers to throw a maximum of 105 pitches during regular season games prevented him from doing so.

The 18 strikeouts is the most Smyth has had in his own prep baseball career, and it's the most an EPCHS pitcher has totaled in recent years. Smyth's previous high strikeout mark was 16, which also came in a game against Shepard during his junior year.

Breaking his own mark "felt great," Smyth said, but he wants "another good one" as the Mustangs head into the playoffs next week.

~ Contributed by Tim Moran, EPCHS