Mistuloff Gets Redondo Union off to a Good Start in Bay League Play

On this night, Alex Mistuloff was dominant. The Redondo Union High senior struck out 13 in a 1-0 victory over Leuzinger in their Bay League opener, blowing his fastball right by the Olympians when he was not completely befuddling them with his off-speed pitches.

The Sea Hawks' right-hander was in fact just two you've-got-to-be-kidding-me base hits away from throwing a no-hitter, those hits traveling a combined 140 feet or so. In the third inning Keith Kimbell was able to beat out a high chopper on the infield and in the sixth Anthony Solorzano dropped a bunt down the third base line that was leaning to the left but came to a stop right on the base line.

That, however, was it.

''I just focused and I was able to throw anything I wanted down the plate and get them out,'' said Mistuloff, who has held opponents to a .183 batting average, but also had some rough outings against Torrance and South Torrance in which he gave up 13 of the 16 earned runs he has allowed. ''That was really key. I kept them off-balance and then they couldn't catch up to the fastball.''

Of the Olympians' meager base hits, Mistuloff could only force a smile. ''You almost just feel like, 'Oh, wow … how did that happen?' '' he said.

Neither base hit knocked him off kilter, though. Mistuloff continued to plow through the Leuzinger lineup, striking out two batters in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to push his season total to 58 in just 39 2/3 innings, all while working with little to no margin for error.

Though the Sea Hawks hit some balls hard in the first two innings against Olympians' right-hander Maiwand Shinwari, they were unable to find a hole and put a run on the scoreboard.

Redondo right fielder Chris Jump did almost out a hole in Shinwari, lacing a wicked line drive up the middle that was headed right for the pitcher's belly button. He was able to get a glove up just in time to knock the ball down, recover, and throw Jump out at first base.

The Sea Hawks (8-8, 1-0 in league play) were able to scratch out their only run in the fourth,  loading the bases on a fielder's choice, a hit batter, another fielder's choice and a walk ahead of No. 9 hitter Richard Atherton. The junior center fielder had only 12 plate appearances coming into the game, but was 4 for 10 and pushed the run across the plate with an infield single.

Mistuloff made that run stand up.

''When Alex is on, he's on,'' catcher Jake Jimenez said. ''He's one of those kids where if he's blowing it past you ever time, he's going to keep it that way. A good part of the game is to know, OK, what did this guy do before? What did I get him on? I'm either going to give him the same thing or I'm going to go totally opposite and go for something else. It was mostly that when he hits his spots, he's good. He's on. You could probably tell by the first inning if he's on or if he's off. Tonight, he was on.''

The Olympians (5-10, 0-1) were often just overmatched. Loaded for fastballs they couldn't catch up to, the Leuzinger hitters could do nothing when they got an off-speed pitch. Jimenez called those pitches ''mind buckling'' and they left them flailing away.

The only spot of trouble for Mistuloff and the Sea Hawks came in the second inning, when he hit Howard Robinson and Shinwari to open the inning. But he came back with that fastball and his breaking ball, striking out Delon Wright, Joseph Galindo and Rickie Romero.

''He had a good change up early on. I don't know why he didn't stay with the changeup, but he dropped that little slider in there and it was nasty,'' Redondo Union Coach Bradey Thurman said.