HAMILTON — Ethan Earnest was looking forward to big things at the beginning of the season.
After working through shoulder surgery and back spasms that kept him from throwing a lot of innings in the past two seasons, Earnest wanted to make a mark in his senior season with the Hamilton High School baseball team.
But sometimes bad luck follows you.
On the second day of preseason practice, Earnest dislocated the middle finger on the left hand of his throwing arm and was told he could be out six to eight weeks.
“I felt like, ‘Oh no, here we go again,’ ” Earnest said. “On the way up to the doctor, I was pretty worried about it and I thinking I might have to have surgery on it.”
Fortunately, Earnest didn’t have to have surgery. Earnest was back hitting after two weeks. Three weeks after the injury, Earnest was able to pitch again, and even though he didn’t have all of his touch back in his left hand, he was focused on returning to the mound to help his teammates.
“I have been through so much that it has made me mentally tougher,” Earnest said.
On Tuesday, Earnest showed just how valuable he can be to Hamilton, striking out 11 in an eight-inning no-hitter in a 1-0 victory against Baldwyn.
For his accomplishment, Earnest is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“I felt right that day,” Earnest said. “My arm was feeling so good it made me confident. It has really boosted my confidence. I feel really good about myself now.”
Earnest said he felt he was able to throw harder as the game went on. He also said he was able to spot his pitches and to keep hitters off balance with his curveball.
“About the fifth inning I was thinking, ‘I hope I can go,’ ” Earnest said. “I thought no one has really had a hit and I wasn’t worried, but I told myself, ‘C’mon Ethan, you have to get through this.’ ”
Earnest said he settled himself down after early control problems and fell into a groove that made everyone feel at ease. He said his teammates didn’t stay away from him in the dugout — as professional baseball players are apt to do — because no one seemed to know he had a no-hitter.
Earnest had shoulder surgery in October of his freshman year. He also suffered from back spasms after trying to compensate for his shoulder injury. As a result, he didn’t pitch as a sophomore and pitched very little as a junior. He feels he has worked back from the early-season setback to become someone the Lions will look to on the mound.
“I guess some people might not have expected it because I hadn’t been pitching because of injuries,” Earnest said. “It was a good feeling that everybody had confidence in me. When my team has confidence in me, I have confidence because I want my team to feel good when I am pitching.”
Hamilton coach Lewis Earnest admits he didn’t know Ethan was throwing a no-hitter. He said his thinking would have changed if he had known because he didn’t want Ethan to throw too many pitches in only his third start to the season.
As it turns out, the Lions used a two-out triple, two intentional walks, and another walk to push a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning to make sure Ethan didn’t have to throw more than 112 pitches.
Coach Earnest said Ethan was able to keep his pitch count down by mixing his fastball and his curveball. He sensed Ethan got stronger after he worked out of trouble in the first three innings.
“Like I said, he was effectively wild in the first three innings,” coach Earnest said. “He walked four and hit one or two and had runners on second and third twice and was able to pitch out of it. After the third inning, he started throwing strikes. In the fourth and fifth inning, he was good, and I knew as long as he was throwing like that they weren’t going to hit him hard.”
Looking back, coach Earnest is glad he didn’t know Ethan’s predicament because he knew he was going to have to make a decision if Hamilton didn’t score in the eighth. He said he wouldn’t have wanted to pull Ethan from a scoreless game if he still had a no-hitter.
Turns out, coach Earnest said he debated all weekend if he wanted to throw Ethan against Baldwyn in a key Class 2A, Region 1 game.
“I didn’t expect him to be sharp, and I sure didn’t expect him to throw a no-hitter,” coach Earnest said. “But once he got through the first two or three innings he got sharper. Hopefully it will carry over.”
Hamilton (9-8, 5-2 region) lost to Baldwyn on Friday and is set to face undefeated Hatley twice this week. Hamilton has split two games with Baldwyn and East Union, which means the final two weeks of the regular season will determine which three teams advance from the region to the playoffs.
A healthy and confident Ethan Earnest could give the Lions an edge. Earnest said he will do his best to build on his latest outing to keep the Lions’ postseason hopes alive.
“I just have to believe in myself,” Earnest said. “It has really shown me I am able to do that, and it should bring me confidence.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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