After four surgeries on his throwing arm, senior
Westyn Balch of
Hawley (Texas) threw a perfect game and struck out every batter in a 7-0 playoff win over Forsan last week.
After striking out the first 20 batters, the left-hander was one strike away from finishing his masterpiece.
"I knew anything could happen," Balch said. "I was just telling myself to keep throwing how you have been, it's just another pitch."
His catcher
Keagan Ables was set as Balch fired his fastball and got the final batter — the No. 3 hitter in the Forsan lineup — to swing and miss to complete the perfect game.
"I was ecstatic," Balch said. "All I could do was give thanks to God for blessing me with the ability to accomplish it."
Balch started playing baseball when he was three years old, running to third base instead of first after a hit. He added football to his schedule as he grew older.
The injuries started in eighth grade. After taking a handoff as a running back, he was tackled and his right arm was broken. After surgery he had two plates and 11 screws in the arm.
A year later as a freshman he was playing linebacker and made a tackle, breaking his left arm in the process. That injury required two surgeries, two plates and 13 screws. For six months both of his arms were in a cast. He then had arm pain that developed, which resulted in another surgery. Two more screws were put in his elbow and he was told it wasn't likely he would pitch again.
Balch was determined to keep playing but had persistent pain as his velocity was getting back up the mid 80s.
With no hope in sight, the thought of giving pitching up started to become a real thought. But the family went to a doctor specializing in arm care and an operation was done to remove the elbow screws and ease the tension.
"Relearning my mechanics after four arm surgeries on my throwing arm was tough," Balch said. "The recovery road has been a physical and an emotional roller coaster."
The surgery worked and he was back on the mound six months later.
Along with helping Hawley advance to the third round of the playoffs this season, the Harding University pledge now has two perfect games. He has averaged more than two strikeouts per inning on the season and his earned run average stands at 0.97.
