(Photo courtesy of Ty Giordano)
While everyone else is enjoying spring break, Legacy’s Ryan Overboe is busy being perfect in Florida. The senior from Legacy etched his name in school history, throwing a perfect game in a 10-0 win over Westminster Christian Academy (Edwardsville, Ill.) on Tuesday.
“It’s unbelievable,” Legacy coach Ty Giordano said. We all know how rare a perfect game is at any level. It’s a memeroy that we’ll be able to hang on to until we’re 80 or 90 years old.”
Making the performance even more impressive is the fact that Overboe, a Colorado Mesa commit, was dealing. He struck out 14 hitters hitters through the game. He faced 18 total batters and not a single ball that was hit advanced beyond the infield.
As his strikeout total began to increase, Giorando and the rest of the Lightning players began thinking about what could be possible. And in typical baseball lore, they didn’t dare talk about what was happening.
But in the late innings, they knew exactly what was happening.
“No one said anything to me,” Overboe said. “But I guess one of my roommates said something to our third baseman. My third baseman almost punched him because he knew that was a rule.”
Westminster Christian had so much trouble handling Overboe’s pitches that a third of the Lightning’s defense was essentially taken out of the game entirely.
With a high strikeout total and no balls being hit beyond the infield, Legacy’s outfielders had nothing more than a great vantage point to watch Overboe work.
“They were pretty bored,” Giordano said with a laugh. “When you go through a situation like that, everyone starts to pick it up a little bit. You get a little more focused.”
Everyone stayed focused through the sixth inning.Up 9-0 with the bases loaded, it was a walk that brought in the Lightning’s 10th run and gave Overboe his perfect game.
“I was kind of hoping to get out there for the seventh inning to prove that point that it was a seven-inning perfect game,” Overboe said. “But I guess I’ll take a six-inning, 14-strikeout perfect game if I have to.”
Legacy returns home with a game against Bear Creek on Tuesday. The team then dives right into league play, hosting Fairview on Thursday.