Hun senior dominates to record fifth win
By: Andrew Cangiano
Hun School pitcher Steve Garrison showed Wednesday why he has baseball scouts drooling, as he pitched four innings and gave up just one run in the Raiders 12-1 thrashing of St. Benedict’s Prep.
Garrison was dominant from the start as he struck out the side in the first inning and didn’t allow a base runner until the fourth. He finished the day allowing only one hit, with nine of the 12 outs he recorded coming by strikeout.
The Raiders gave Garrison plenty of support, as they batted around in the first inning and plated five runs.
The inning was highlighted by Gene Pavitt’s two-run triple off the center field wall, which was followed by a Shane Davis double into the left-field corner that scored Pavitt.
That proved to be all the help Garrison needed, as he struck out at least two hitters in every inning he pitched.
Hun coach Bill McQuade said Garrison would not have pitched against the overmatched St. Benedict’s team had it not been for the scouts who wanted to see him throw.
"In all honesty, if the scouts weren’t here he wouldn’t have pitched this game," said McQuade. "They were due to come."
McQuade said Garrison pitched one of his better games as a Raider.
"He mixed his pitches today much better than some other games," McQuade said. "He threw the fastball, got his curveball a nice tight curveball and he’s working on his change-up also, locating that. As a pitcher today he actually pitched very well."
As Garrison threw darts toward home plate, a number of scouts stood behind the backstop with radar guns to clock his pitches.
Steve’s mother, Patty, who is a teacher at Hun, said her son has become adept at pitching under the pressure of being scouted.
"He handles it better than I do I must tell you," she said. "He gets nervous. People think he’s real unflappable, but at home he’s a little nervous.
"But then I guess when he gets up on the mound he finds a way to put that in the background and focus on pitching, and I’m glad he can."
Mrs. Garrison said a scout from the Boston Red Sox would be coming to dinner after the game.
Steve has already pitched from a major league mound, as he threw from the hill at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia during the Carpenter’s Cup last year, helping the Mercer County team to capture its first title.
Garrison isn’t ready to make the jump to the professional ranks yet, as the senior will be attending the University of North Carolina next year to play on the Tar Heels baseball team.
However, right now Garrison said he just wants to enjoy the rest of his senior year.
"I kind of don’t want to leave," he said. "I’ve loved it here for four years. It’s been great. It’s a great team, we’re all best friends. It’s just a lot of fun, I love being a senior with all these guys. It’s a lot of fun."
Garrison’s teammates certainly made things more relaxing for him on the mound as they showed what they could do at the plate by crushing the ball all over the park.
McQuade said his squad can be carried by its hitting.
"We can hit the ball. When we get on a roll, hitting’s contagious and we have the guys with gap power and home-run power," McQuade said. "We have five, six, seven guys with good gap power or home run power. Given the right scenario we can put numbers on the board."
McQuade said the Raiders win will help the team’s seeding in the Prep A Tournament.
"This win probably solidifies us to the No. 1 seed in the Prep A Tournament," McQuade said, "which is nice, because then we’ll get that bye game. And then the same thing can be true when we play Blair tomorrow. If we can play well (Thursday) and beat Blair, we get the No. 1 seed in the MAPL."
The Raiders were scheduled to play Blair Academy on Thursday. They host Pennington today and will face Princeton Day School 4:15 p.m. Monday at Waterfront Park.

