Blister problems held back Austin Voth on the baseball diamond last spring.
Today, the only blistering going on in the Kentwood High right-hander’s world is the kind he is currently administering on his South Puget Sound League North Division foes.
And all it took was a little dab of Super Glue.
“Last year, I kept getting blisters right under the nail of the index finger on my right hand,” explained the 17-year-old Voth, who will pitch next season at the University of Washington on a partial scholarship. “So I put a little bit of Super Glue in there. Right now, it’s sort of healed up.”
Blister problems are nothing out of the ordinary for power pitchers, especially those who possess curve balls that tend to drop like a ball falling off the edge of a table as Voth’s breaking ball does.
Finding a cure to the problem has made all the difference in the world to Voth and the Conquerors, who entered play on Friday in complete command of the SPSL North at 11-0. While Kentwood got off to a strong start a year ago, winning six straight right out of the gate, the Conquerors have been on an unstoppable roll this spring. Not only did Kentwood enter play on Friday, April 23 unbeaten, but the wins have come in dominating fashion as the Conquerors have outscored their opponents 123-22.
Kentwood will try and continue that success at 4 p.m. on Friday (April 23) at Kentlake, when the Conquerors take on the Falcons in an SPSL showdown between two of the league’s top teams.
A big part of that success has been Voth, whose 3-0 record accompanies a sparkling 0.42 earned-run average along with 36 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings pitched. Voth struck out 10 or more batters in each of those outings, including a career-best 15 in a 4-0 win over Kentlake on March 31.
“He has been spectacular,” said Kentwood coach Jon Aarstad. “Right now, he’s spotting his fastball really well. And when you’re spotting an 88-89 (miles per hour) fastball, that’s tough to hit. He just has a really good idea how to pitch. He goes out there with a plan and doesn’t necessarily try and strike everybody out. His goal is to make good solid pitches every time.”
Voth agreed.
“I am not really going for strikeouts right now. I’m just trying to hit locations and make batters off balance,” said Voth, who has been contacted by more than a dozen Major League organization’s about the upcoming draft in June. “That’s been working out so far.”
For as good as Voth has been on the mound, he has been just as deadly in the batter’s box, where he entered the week sporting a .667 batting average (12-for-21, 1 home run, 14 RBIs).
And yet, as good as Voth has been, he has hardly been the lone Conqueror delivering the goods. In fact, despite graduating ace Alexander Lee and losing pitcher Kent Hagen to a broken leg, the Conquerors very well may be better than last year, when their season ended on a first-round state playoff game. Along with Voth, shortstop Bryant VanEngelenburg (.517, 3 home runs, 13 RBIs) and outfielder Zach Corpuz (.536, 5 stolen bases, 14 runs scored) also have been on fire.
Meanwhile, the pitching staff that lost two strong arms has rolled to a collective 1.42 ERA and has struck out 96 batters in 64 innings of work. That team ERA also doesn’t include Tuesday’s 12-0 shutout of Kent-Meridian.
“I think guys 1 through 18, yes, we’re better. There’s no doubt about it,” Aarstad said. “We’re deeper all the way around and in every position compared to last year.”
Add it up and the Conquerors find themselves in line to capture their first SPSL North title since 2000, when they won the state championship.
But the main objective?
“Our goal is to win state,” Voth said succinctly.
If the Super Glue holds, the Conquerors just might.
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