STARKVILLE — Justin Conner understands his limitations.
The Starkville High School baseball left-handed pitcher doesn’t try to be something that he is not when he is standing on the mound. He knows what he is capable of and pitches within himself.
“A lot of people get up there and blow it by everybody,” Conner said. “I know I’m not going to do that. A lot of times when I’m throwing my bullpens, I just work on hitting spots so when I go out in the game I can hit spots.”
Conner demonstrated that last Tuesday as he pitched five innings, giving up two hits, no walks and striking out one as Starkville run-ruled Madison Central 10-0 in five innings in a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 3 game at Yellow Jacket Field. For his efforts, he is the Dispatch Prep Player of the Week.
Conner and Starkville (10-5, 1-1 Class 6A, Region 3) play at Northwest Rankin 6 p.m. today, before returning home 6 p.m. Friday against Northwest Rankin. Jacket coach Travis Garner said Conner will more than likely start Friday’s game.
Garner was impressed with Conner’s performance because who it came against. The Jaguars have been ranked as high as No. 3 in The Clarion-Ledger poll and the lineup consists of a future Mississippi State Bulldog. Middle infielder Will Brooks has already committed to play at MSU in the for the class of 2016.
Garner said it was the best performance he has seen from Conner and the stat line proved it.
“That’s what he does,” Garner said. “We’re a pretty good defensive team. This yard over here at Starkville is a big ole yard, so we try to preach to our guys to throw strikes and we’ll make the plays behind you. Justin’s done a good job of it.”
Conner uses five pitches, including two fastballs, two breaking balls and a changeup. He has a two-seam and one-seam fastballs. He uses the two-seam to get ahead in counts and uses the one-seam when he needs a ground ball or a double play. He has a standard curveball which he described as “get-me-over.” He used that one against Brooks early in the count to get ahead. He has a knuckle curve that he uses for strikeouts or ground balls.
Garner said the biggest plus for Conner is his ability to fill up the strike zone.
“When you know Justin goes to the mound, he’s going to compete and compete in the strike zone,” Garner said. “It doesn’t matter if he gives up two hits or 10 hits, his attitude doesn’t change. For the most part, that right there is what you want out of a high school arm, somebody you know what you’re getting every time he goes to the mound. He’s somebody that we’ll miss when he goes gone for sure.”
Conner said he works tirelessly with pitching coach Brad Hamilton, who stresses throwing a lot of strikes to fill up the zone.
The Yellow Jackets didn’t commit any errors behind Conner and he got several good defensive plays. Left fielder Milton Smith II had a diving catch to rob an extra-base hit and center fielder A.J. Brown had a critical catch to keep the Jaguars off the board. Second baseman Will Murphree played his position well and ended an inning with a nice play in the hole.
Conner said the victory was due to his defense.
“We played great defense behind me, we couldn’t have done that without the great defense,” Conner said.
Conner was in the 10th grade when Garner took over and the coach has seen the senior develop nicely the last two seasons. Garner said Conner has pitched every big game during his tenure.
“He’s a guy that works his tail off and gets the most out of his ability,” Garner said. “I’m confident when he’s on the mound and I know he is too. He’s our guy and he’s our guy that we depend on to go out there and do well for us.”
This may be the confidence boost that Conner needs going into the rest of the season, but he won’t stray outside of his comfort zone because he saw it work against one of the best teams in the state.
“It’s huge just to know that you two-hit Madison Central,” Conner said. “It gives me a lot of confidence. I know that I can stay within myself and I can still give us a chance to win.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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