SARATOGA SPRINGS — Michael Mack walked out to the mound at East Side Rec each inning Monday afternoon with AC/DC’s epic song ‘Hells Bells’ blaring in the background before he towed the rubber. It is the same tune Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman heard when he came in during his glory days pitching with the San Diego Padres.
Mack pitched like he was closing a game and was in a hurry to catch a flight, mowing down a quality Columbia lineup with ease inning after inning. The junior right-hander, a Northeastern commit, limited the Blue Devils to two singles and struck out 12 in leading Saratoga Springs to a 3-0 Suburban Council victory.
“I felt pretty good today,” Mack said. “The ball felt good coming out all game.”
“He was really excellent today,” Columbia coach Chris Dedrick said of Mack. “He had real good life on his fastball and good bite on the slider. He was able to throw both pitches any time he wanted. Sometimes, you’ve got to tip your hat to the pitcher. He did a great job. He had a great mound presence, pitched fast and hit his locations.”
Mack, who improved to 4-0 with his second straight shutout, allowed a single in the first inning to Columbia shortstop Andrew Gabriel and another single with one out in the seventh to first baseman Elias Conway. His only brief difficultly came when he threw seven straight balls and issued consecutive walks with one out in the fifth. Mack rebounded by inducing a 6-4-3 double play grounder.
The Blue Streaks (10-2 overall, 7-1 league) were coming off dropping a 7-0 decision Friday against Niskayuna. Mack made sure the Blue Streaks bounced back big as he threw 61 strikes among his 87 pitches to silence the bats of Columbia (7-3, 5-2).
“It was a tough loss, but we kind of need to lose to have that bounce-back moment and game,” Mack said. “That’s what happened a lot last…
Read the full article here