A memorable first pitching start for FA’s Church

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Opening day is a special time each year for any baseball player whether the venue is a Little League field or a major league stadium.

Foxcroft Academy senior Nate Church recently approached that rite of spring with particular anticipation, and in that season debut joined with his teammates in creating a memory for a lifetime.

The righthander pitched his first career no-hitter in a 4-1 victory at rival Dexter, relying on a strategically located fastball and a timely curve to strike out nine batters while issuing just two walks during the seven-inning contest on Tuesday, April 19.

Church was just wild enough — he did hit three batters — to keep the Tigers’ hitters from gaining control of the plate.

“I wasn’t afraid to throw inside,” he said.

Church was fairly economical with his offerings, throwing 97 pitches — 64 for strikes.

“He was very efficient and that allowed him to stay in the ballgame through seven (innings),” said Foxcroft head coach Nick Miller. “We got him built up to roughly 75 pitches during the preseason so with any more than he threw (against Dexter) if the game had gone longer we would have had to pull him.

“But he was feeling good and got it done in seven.”

One key to the low pitch total was Church getting ahead in the count against most batters.

“He was over 50 percent in first-pitch strikes, which we talk about a lot,” said Miller. “He’s done a good job of improving that and making sure his first pitch is the most important pitch of the at-bat. He’s taken that message to heart.”

Church also benefitted from a defense that committed just one error — another significant accomplishment for the first game of the season.

“There were none of those typical one or two plays that could have gone either way that you often see in a no-hitter,” said Miller. “It was pretty clean from that perspective. Our defense played well but it was routine pretty much.”

That Church pitched the full seven innings by itself represented a personal milestone at the high school level, as he was making his first varsity start on the mound.

“Last year was the first time I actually pitched in a varsity game and I’d come in for the last few innings and throw strikes,” he said. “This year I was made to come in as a starter.

“I was pretty sure I was going to be the No. 1 pitcher this year and I was pretty excited about it.”

Church was not without preparation for that role, having started several games on the mound last summer for the Dover-Foxcroft-based Penquis Navigators American Legion team.

“He’s pretty unshakeable, he’s not really fazed whether he’s starting the game or coming out of the bullpen,” said Miller. “He just does his thing.”

Game day

While most regular-season games are played on school days after a full class schedule, Foxcroft’s season opener came during April vacation week, meaning a different routine for the starting pitcher.

“It gave me more time to think about what I was going to do on the mound instead of not being focused on it at school,” Church said. “It gave me more time to think about what I was going to throw and who I was going to face.”

By the time Church began warming up some 45 minutes before the game was scheduled to begin, the waiting was nearly over.

“Before the game at Dexter he was calm,” said Foxcroft senior catcher Jason Thompson. “He was throwing it right in the strike zone and I knew it was going to be a good game for him.”

One of Church’s objectives during his pregame work with Thompson was to make sure his top secondary pitch would be available as an accurate weapon.

“When I was warming up my breaking ball was working pretty well, so I could tell it was going to be a good day,” he said.

The game itself proved more challenging, at least at the outset. Church and the Ponies stranded two baserunners in the bottom of the first, then yielded an unearned run on a passed ball in the second inning.

But Foxcroft broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the third and never trailed again.

“In the beginning of the game he started out a little nervous,” said Thompson, “but once he got into it there was no getting him out of it.

“We were going with the fastball inside because they couldn’t touch it.”

Church was unaware of his no-hit status until being informed by a scorekeeper during the sixth inning, and he really didn’t have much opportunity to think about it because Dexter righthander Brayden Miller was pitching a solid game of his own — yielding just four hits and three unearned runs while striking out six batters over five innings.

“That made me focus more because it was a close game and I knew I had to pitch well for us to win,” he said. “But once I got out there for the seventh inning I was like, ‘I really don’t want to give up a hit.’”

Church relied almost exclusively on his fastball in the bottom of the seventh, overcoming a one-out hit batsman by ending the game with his final strikeout.

“It was a good feeling, a really good feeling,” he said.

That the final out came on strikes was not surprising given the flow of the game.

“When it comes down to it, Nate has a fastball and it’s filthy and you have to rely on his fastball,” said Thompson. “If he throws a little junk in the dirt, then you come back with the fastball because you know it’s going to be right there.”

Church figures to be one of the pitching mainstays this spring for a Foxcroft team that took a 3-0 record into Tuesday afternoon’s home game against similarly undefeated Old Town.

“He’s really a horse, a true ace for us,” said Miller. “He’s really emerging this year because he’s so steadfast in his preparation and the way he approaches the game. He works at his own pace, he holds runners well and he pounds the zone consistently. We know what we’re going to get and there’s a sense of comfort in what an ace should provide and Nate really does that.

“We know he’s going to give us a good chance to win the ballgame.”