CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida high school junior pitcher is drawing plenty of attention from colleges.
Coral Springs Charter’s AJ Prendergast has a handful of impressive starts, but it’s what he did a week ago that’s getting him near-perfect attention.
When he takes the bump, his defense knows their action will be limited on the diamond.
“It’s a very comfortable feeling, you know, when he’s on the mound and he’s doing his thing, he’s grooving. It’s very easy to just sit there and watch him pitch,” said Coral Springs Charter outfielder Damian Rodriguez.
Last week, Rodriguez and the rest of the CPC baseball team had a pretty relaxed day out in the field because Prendergast struck out 20 of 21 batters he faced in a 6-0 no-hit performance versus Coral Springs High School.
“Everything was working that day, location-wise,” said Prendergast. “Just going into that last inning it’s something you think about like, ‘We could really make some history here.'”
K after K, Prendergast certainly had his pitches humming against the cross-city rivals.
“They couldn’t really hit them at all, it was insane,” said Coral Springs Charter shortstop Haiden Walters.
“It was absolutely a sensational game,” said Coral Springs Charter head coach Charlie Fine. “Around the second or third inning, we all kind of knew what was going on.”
Facing just one batter over the minimum, Prendergast didn’t issue any walks but missed a perfect game due to the lone baserunner coming via catcher’s interference.
“I’ve apologized a couple times,” said Coral Springs Charter catcher Nathan Maestre. “I just — it’s tough man, it’s tough. I really didn’t want to ruin his perfect game like that.”
Memes were made by teammates poking fun at the situation.
“Aw, the memes were going around the group chat for sure,” said Prendergast.
“He’s definitely wearing us out for sure, but he stayed in that game, he fought hard and the very next inning he came up and hit a double for us which helped us get the win, which at the end of the day is the most important thing,” said Fine.
That’s exactly what the Panthers get every time Prendergast is on the hill, as the crafty righty boasts a 4-0 record with a 0.7 earned run average.
His 56 total strikeout record is the best in the tri-county area.
“It’s surreal that it’s 32 K’s in 12 innings,” said Prendergast. “It’s something everybody dreams of in the little league.”
The teenager is also very superstitious and eats the exact same thing every start: a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast, a chicken, rice and bean burrito for lunch and steak and shrimp for dinner.
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