STARKVILLE — Jack Perry has given Travis Garner some thinking to do.
Garner, Starkville High’s baseball coach, thought he had his rotation of starting pitchers set for the all-important district schedule. But Perry, a freshman, continues to pitch well and make life tough on Garner.
On Thursday, Perry took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against Choctaw County. He also went 4-for-4 with six RBIs and two runs scored in a 15-6 victory.
For his accomplishments, Perry is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“That’s kind of the running joke right now,” Garner said. “He’s just a freshman. We’re trying to figure out what he can and can’t do, but the last two times out he’s been really good, so he’s making us make a decision. We have a junior that threw district for us last year and a sophomore that basically shut Madison down for us Friday night.
“You only need two district starters, and we thought he was the third guy, but it’s something we’re going to talk about because he’s pitched really well.”
Perry’s start — which was cut short in the fifth because he was on a pitch count — featured three strikeouts, according to MaxPreps.com, which aren’t usually Perry’s forte. Garner believes Perry will develop into a strikeout pitcher, but he simply came into the start with what the pitching coach said was his best stuff in a bullpen all season. The performance was just another chapter in a breakout freshman season, one in which Garner will continue to give him bigger roles.
“We’ve known he’s going to be really, really good,” Garner said. “It was just hard to say where he’s going to fit in. We knew he was one of our better players, but it was a how quick do you throw a freshman in there kind of thing. You look up and now I’m hitting him third and he takes the ball once a week for us.”
The pressure moments set any doubts at ease. Garner remembers the seconds in the dugout March 6. Starkville was playing New Hope, a team Garner has been told Starkville hasn’t beaten in 10 years, at the very least. Starkville was one out away, but New Hope had the bases loaded trailing 4-3 lead. Garner knew he had to bring Perry in. The move paid off as Perry recorded a strikeout to end the game.
“I like to think I stay pretty calm, cool, and collected,” Perry said. “The thing that works for me is knowing the situation is big, but not putting it all on myself because I know I have teammates that can do the job.”
Said Garner, “It seems like the more pressure it is, the better he does. We kind of eased him in and it got to the point where it didn’t matter if we were playing the defending 6A champions of whoever, he was out there competing his tail off.”
It all paints a promising picture for Perry. Garner calls Perry “a baseball junkie” who will play throughout the summer and fall to be ready for spring. Garner can see it better than most. He played for Meridian Community College, Alabama, and in the Kansas City Royals organization. He is in his 11th year as a coach. He said he hasn’t coached a freshman as good as Perry and has never had one hit in third in the order.
“He’s one of our better baseball players,” Garner said, “and we treat him like it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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