A high school baseball player in Washington State threw 194 pitches over 14 innings Tuesday before being removed in the 15th inning of his team's eventual 1-0 victory in its district tournament.
Rochester High School starting pitcher Dylan Fosnacht struck out 17 and was pulled in the top of the 15th after the first two batters reached base. Dustin Wilson, who had been playing catcher, finished the 17-inning win over La Center High School and then pitched all seven innings of Rochester's second game that day, a 5-3 victory over Elma High School.
Fosnacht posted a picture of himself and Wilson on his Twitter account.
The deadly duo @dustinrw13 pic.twitter.com/yRUV0KRBhm
- Dylan Fosnacht (@DFosnacht5) May 14, 2014
"I have never seen two guys take the mound and dominate like that for that long," assistant coach Kyle Sprague told MaxPreps.com. "I have both of those guys in class, and they both said that their arms were fine today."
Many states impose innings or pitch limits on high school athletes. However, an official with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association told ESPN.com that the only rule her organization has is that pitchers who throw four or more innings in a day must be given two days off before pitching again.
Fosnacht's eye-catching pitch count is in contrast to the current era of major league baseball, where pitch counts are closely monitored and teams seem to be overprotective of pitchers, removing them as soon as they pass 100 pitches. It also comes during a year when several MLB pitchers have had to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair elbow ligament tears, with the most recent casualty being Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, who is expected to have the surgery later this week.
His outing even caught the eye of Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price, who gave him a shoutout on Twitter, while also slamming his coach.
haha you're a beast @DFosnacht5 ...but let's be a little smarter brotha!! Love the competitiveness though!! #urcoachshouldbefired
- David Price (@DAVIDprice14) May 15, 2014
Fosnacht defended his coach in his reply to Price.
@DAVIDprice14 just trying to get a much needed win for my team and wouldn't want no other coach then the one I have
- Dylan Fosnacht (@DFosnacht5) May 15, 2014
Fosnacht said in another tweet that it's a moment he won't soon forget.
Some people think it's awesome, some people think it's ridiculous. I personally loved every minute of it and it's a great memory to have
- Dylan Fosnacht (@DFosnacht5) May 15, 2014
Rochester manager Jerry Striegel told the Centralia Chronicle that he talked to Fosnacht every inning to make sure he was OK.
"We talked to him every inning, and he said he felt comfortable, he felt good, and he's a little competitor," Striegel told the newspaper. "He didn't want to come out of the ballgame. He wasn't very pleased when I took him out in the 15th."
Striegel told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday that, in hindsight, he kept Fosnacht in the game too long.
"I realize that it was way too many pitches," Striegel told Big League Stew in a phone interview Thursday morning. "I can understand everybody's concern about it. And I would tell you too that I am concerned also. I probably would change the decision today."