Edison left-hander Henry Owens shuts out Los Alamitos
One after another, Los Alamitos players stood in the batter’s box Friday, took a couple of swings, then walked back into the dugout after suffering the same fate — a strikeout at the hands of Huntington Beach Edison junior left-hander Henry Owens.
Nine times in the first three innings, Los Alamitos batters struck out. This is what life is going to be like in the Sunset League this season when Owens is on the mound.
The Griffins became more competitive as the game progressed, getting four singles and putting runners on second base twice, but they still were shut out by Owens, 2-0.
In his first three starts this month, Owens (3-0) has produced games of 12, 14 and, on Friday, 12 strikeouts. He’s 6 feet 7, wears size 17 shoes and is developing a curveball that one day might be as nasty as his 90-mph-plus fastball.
He has inherited the role of big-time ace that was filled last season in Southern California by Tyler Matzek of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley and Matt Hobgood from Norco, both of whom became first-round draft choices.
When Owens is throwing strikes, as he did Friday when he walked only two batters, teams will have a very difficult time scoring runs.
Give Los Alamitos (2-4, 0-1) credit. Pitcher Kyle Ferramola kept his team in the game, striking out four and walking four while allowing five hits. But one run scored with Owens on the mound can be the difference. Christian Lopes provided it with an RBI double in the third inning and his brother, Tim, contributed an insurance run in the sixth with a solo home run.
“We were overmatched, but we competed very good,” said Los Alamitos first-year Coach Aaron Moore, who built Riverside Poly into a baseball power.
One problem for Edison (5-3, 1-0) is that Owens’ teammates can become too comfortable when he’s pitching and think one run is enough.
“I challenged my team, ‘Hey, we need to put more runs on the board to put these guys away,’ ” Edison Coach Steve Lambright said. “One swing of the bat and they could have easily tied that game.”
The good news for Edison is that Owens hasn’t reached peak form.
“We missed a lot of time due to rain,” Owens said. “My arm is getting into shape. It’s going to keep getting better, hopefully.”
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