BANGOR -Â Bangor Christian baseball is off to a blazing hot start to the season, and just last week one senior made baseball history.
In a 5-0 win over Stearns, senior pitcher Jason Libby became one of just a handful of high school baseball players ever to strike out 22 batters in a seven inning game.
"I've been around baseball for 45 years, and I've never seen anything close to it," said head coach Tim Collins. "I don't think even our team understood what they just saw. It's history."
"It's so cool, first from Maine and then not many people in the United States have ever done it, so it's super cool," Libby said. "Everything was working, i was glad my control was feeling great. It was the same as any other game, just ready to pitch against a good team."
In the outing, Libby tossed a no-hitter, with the only runner reaching base on a third strike in the dirt.
"The reality is, it was a good curveball, it was a good block," Collins said. "What're you gonna do?"
It didn't take long during the game for both Libby's catcher and his coach to realize, 'Wow, Jason's really got it going today.'
"I knew early on in the game when he started just pumping strikes," said senior catcher Micah Robert. "I didn't want to tell him anything, so I didn't get in his head or anything like that."
"Then, at that point, I'll own it, I don't say anything to anybody," Collins said. "When somebody is doing that, I say nothing."
Libby and Robert are two of six seniors leading the way for the 7-0 Patriots, who have been rolling to start the spring. So far, their recipe has been simple.
"Pitching and defense, that's what coaches say," Libby said. "We have a good field behind us, and a good pitching staff."
"It just comes down to the basics, pitching, defense and offense," Robert said. "We've done a good job executing all three of those."
And, while the guys know they have what it takes to make a run, and that's the ultimate goal, they also know they can't get ahead of themselves, as well.
"We recognize that we're a good team, but when it comes game time we throw it away and realize, 'This team could beat us today,'" Robert said. "All that is thrown aside and we focus on the game."
"We have a home stretch with some really good teams coming up, so we've got to work hard and be ready to play," Libby said. "It's like 'The Last Dance,' we've got a good bunch of guys here, we really want to win and we want it real bad."