St. Edward baseball

St. Edward pitcher Jaret Edwards might have thrown the school's first perfect game on Thursday, and he did it by striking out every batter he faced.

(Kyle Lanzer, Special to The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - There have been perfect games. There have been big strikeout games.

But on Thursday, St. Edward pitcher Jaret Edwards combined them to create something you've probably never seen.

Edwards, a senior right-hander, struck out every batter he faced in a 10-0, five-inning win against John Marshall in their Division I Strongsville Sectional championship game.

Of the 15 batters he struck out, 11 went down swinging. Edwards got a first-pitch strike on at least six of the batters. There were a handful of foul balls and one pop-up that his catcher didn't see in time to catch.

"He wasn't ahead on every batter. It takes extreme concentration because if you miss a pitch, it's a walk," said Eagles coach Matt Rosinski.

Edwards said the energy was up in the dugout throughout the game, and he didn't feel as if he was being avoided due to superstition.

"I usually don't smile on the mound, but when I got the last strikeout, I smiled," said Edwards. "It was a pretty relieving moment."

Edwards, a George Washington University commit, is one of two starting pitchers the Eagles are using in the playoffs. He's 4-1 (0.96 ERA), has struck out 57 batters in 45 innings, walked 14 and give up 26 hits this season.

His loss was 2-1 to Massillon Jackson, the undefeated and No. 1-ranked team in the state coaches poll. He opened the season with a no-hitter vs. Westlake.

Edwards' pitches include fastball, cutter, slider and change up, and he reaches the upper 80s. He stuck mostly with fastballs and sliders against John Marshall.

According to the OHSAA's baseball records, there have been nearly 70 perfect games thrown in Ohio. Rosinski said he couldn't confirm whether or not Edwards' perfect game was the first in school history.

Had the Eagles not scored so many runs and caused the game to be shortened, Edwards might have had a shot at the state's single-game strikeout record, which is 21.

Edwards' friend, Michael McDonough of Columbia Crestview, struck out 21 in March, becoming the sixth player to do it.

Edwards will have to settle for being about as perfect has he could've been.

"It was just absolutely amazing," said Rosinski. "I'd never heard of this before and I'll probably never see it again in my lifetime."