‘Special group’ with one of state’s top pitchers ready to contend at Sayre
Sayre’s baseball team has had success over the years. For instance, in 2015, Coach Kevin Clary’s first season, the Spartans went 24-14 and reached the 11th Region semifinals.
It’s been more of a struggle since as the Spartans won only seven games in 2018 and five in 2019.
But there’s something different about 2021 — something that indicates the Spartans (7-8) could have their most satisfying season yet and be a contender for years to come.
“It’s so much fun. It’s my favorite Sayre team I’ve ever played on. It’s a real blast,” said Addison Stockham, a sophomore first baseman/pitcher who delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday against a Frederick Douglass team ranked No. 6 by Prep Baseball Report.
Sayre’s success owes a lot to another sophomore, Raymond Saatman, a right-hander whose command of four pitches and an increasingly blazing fastball accounted for 13 strikeouts in its come-from-behind 6-4 win over the Broncos.
Saatman squared off against Douglass ace Thomas Howard, another stellar sophomore right-hander who’s considered the state’s top prospect in the class of 2023 and has already committed to play at college national power Louisville. Howard exited the mound in the fourth with a 4-3 lead. The Douglass hurler’s fastball has been documented as fast as 92 mph.
Saatman has been lighting such numbers up on Sayre’s radar gun, as well, and climbing the player rankings.
“I made a big jump up (in speed) from the winter and it’s been great,” Saatman said, noting that “getting his slider going” was key Wednesday, too.
Saatman ran his record to 3-3 with a 1.12 earned-run average and 56 strikeouts. He isn’t worried about comparisons or his prospects at the next level, he said. “I’m just playing my own game, getting the team wins, and we’ll just go from there.”
Clary praised his ace’s calm demeanor and steady presence on the mound.
“Raymond got a whole lot better after the first two innings,” Clary said. “He doesn’t have any quit in him. He’s a tough-nosed kid. He’s laid back, but he’s an unbelievable competitor. Nothing fazes him.”
That’s purposeful.
“If you show emotion, that’s how other teams get to you,” Saatman said. “I just let it go and focus on the next pitch.”
The Spartans let a 3-2 lead slip away against the top of Douglass’s order in the fifth inning as the Broncos’ multi-sport phenom Dane Key doubled and Kentucky commit Julius Scearce singled to start the threat. A pair of passed balls let both of them cross the plate to give Douglass a 4-3 advantage.
“(Saatman) came back into the dugout and said, ‘Guys, we’re OK. Let’s respond. Stay positive,” Clary recalled. “And that’s what a leader does.”
Sayre answered with their three runs in the sixth against Douglass reliever Leighton Harris, taking advantage of an error and a pair of walks to set up Stockham’s clutch hit with the bases loaded.
Even though Douglass (16-4) got its revenge with a 12-1 run-rule victory in the nightcap of their Wednesday doubleheader (ended by a Scearce grand slam in the fifth), for Sayre, the series split showed they can play with the best.
The number of years Sayre has won as many as four games inside 42nd District play can be counted on one hand and, this year, they’re 4-2 with split series against Douglass and Henry Clay and a sweep of Bryan Station with a two-game set versus Scott County still to come.
“We can’t just reload every year because our enrollment is so small, and we’ve got a special group of young men who believe in each other and they believe in the process,” Clary said. “They’re just a really talented group.”
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