It didn't take long to figure out Tuesday's game between Georgetown Prep and St. Albans would be a low-scoring affair. Both teams had their respective aces on the mound, and it seemed as if the first team that scored would be the eventual winner. So instead of waiting for his teammates to spring into action, St. Albans senior pitcher Matt Bowman took care of business himself.
After striking out the first two batters of the game, Georgetown Prep's Gary Schneider roped a single to left off Bowman and then stole second base. But that would be as close as Prep came to scoring. Bowman struck out the next batter, which stranded Schneider at second base and ended the only real threat of the game. Bowman would end up striking out 10 of the first 12 batters and knocking in the only run of the game. In total, Bowman went 2 for 3 from the plate, struck out 15 batters in seven innings on the mound and picked up his third 1-0 victory over the season.
"Every time he goes up there, I know we are going to get a lot of strikes thrown," St. Albans coach Jason Larocque said. "He mixes his pitches well, and he's an athlete on the mound. Matt thrives in big situations."
Tuesday was no different. With Both Prep and St. Albans coming into Tuesday's game with perfect 6-0 records in the IAC, Bowman was called on to out-pitch Georgetown Prep ace Charles Zubrod, who beat St. Stephen's ace Whit Mayberry last Thursday 1-0 in a similar complete-game, four-hit shutout. Although Zubrod fell just short, Georgetown Prep Coach Chris Rodriguez wasn't disappointed in his team's effort.
"Charles Zubrod did exactly what he did against St. Stephen's," Rodriguez said. "I told the guys it would probably be a one-run ballgame. I think Zubrod and Bowman, along with Whit Mayberry, could be the top three pitchers in the area. When a guy comes out and does what he does like Matt [Bowman] did, you're going to have to tip your hat to him and get him the next time."
After 10 of the first 12 players struck out, Prep's batters appeared to be silly putty in Bowman's hands. But as the game progressed, so did Prep's bats. The Hoyas were able to put the ball in play, but Bowman adjusted and finished strong, striking out the first two batters of the seventh inning before getting the final Prep hitter to hit a weak grounder right back at the mound, which ended up being the final out of the game.
"Usually my gameplan is to start off throwing fastballs," said Bowman, who finished 6-1 last year as STA's No. 3 pitcher behind Danny Hultzen (Virginia) and Francis Brooke (Northwestern). After a couple times through the order, the batters start understanding what I'm doing and I go to backwards pitching. I start off with offspeed and finishing with fastballs."
With Hultzen dominating at UVA (5-0/2.36 ERA/.350 AVG/2 HR/28 RBI) and Brooke getting time on the mound at Northwestern, Bowman's starts on the mound are attracting scouts from the Major Leagues. In total Tuesday afternoon, scouts from the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and Anaheim Angels were on hand to see Bowman, but the senior pitcher and team's No. 3 hitter didn't let the attention affect him.
"I try not to do things to differently or psyche myself out," said Bowman, who throws a fastball, slider, curveball and splitter. "We don't really have big games. Coach wants us to have the same intensity with each game. I just did everything I normally do and things worked out."
The victory improved St. Albans' record to 14-5 on the season and 7-0 in IAC play while the loss dropped Prep to 11-3 and 6-1 in conference play.