The opening day of the National Team Championships Arizona's 17U age group officially arrived on Monday morning, and for MASH 17U Vocca pitcher Riley Leatherman, the festivities kicked off with a bang.
The Minnesota native and University of North Carolina commit took the mound for his team's second game of the day against Jack 9 Baseball, and from the minute he picked up the ball, he was completely locked in. Leatherman brought a no-hitter into the fifth inning, coming just seven outs shy of finishing the job, and he ended the afternoon with a whopping 13 strikeouts on his ledger while allowing just a lone single and a pair of walks in six innings of work. Included in this was a stretch of five consecutive strikeouts in the middle of the game, spanning from the beginning of the fourth inning through the end of the fifth.
Most importantly, Leatherman's outing helped MASH pick up its first victory of the tournament. After faltering late and walking away with an 8-8 tie in its first game against GBG Navy 2024, the team rode the righty's excellent showing along with some early offense to take home the win and push its record to 1-0-1 after the first day.
After the game, Leatherman spoke to USA Baseball about his stellar outing, what was working for him throughout the day, and how he thinks his team can do throughout the rest of the tournament.
Q: You just got off the mound right now after going six innings, giving up just one hit with 13 strikeouts. How does it feel when I tell you those numbers after that outing today?
A: It feels great. I knew going in and warming up I felt really good and I was going to go out there and perform, but I really didn't know I was going to do something like that. It just feels really good to come out here and perform like that.
Q: Do you know early on, you just get in a rhythm like that and it carries on for the rest of the game?
A: Yeah, I can usually tell either when I'm playing catch or down in the bullpen, like everything just feels like the timing is right. I get off the mound there and everything feels just awesome.
Q: What specifically did you think you had working today? What pitches or what spots?
A: I was spotting my fastball really well, so obviously that always helps a lot, and then my slider, I could throw it the majority of counts for a strike and as a swing-and-miss pitch.
Q: You guys got one win and one tie today heading into tomorrow. What did you think of your performance and what do you think you guys need to improve on going forward?
A: I think for us, it's just about continuing to throw strikes and putting the barrel on the baseball. I feel like those things, when you put them together, you have a good combination to win.
Q: What are your first impressions on the tournament so far, and how far do you guys think you can make a run here?
A: I'm hoping and thinking we can make it pretty far here. We've got a pretty good team, so if we play the baseball we can, I think we could make a pretty good run.
