Via VYPE
All season, Key has been one of the tougher pitchers in the Greater Houston area.
Originally Appeared on VYPE
ROUND ROCK – In what could be his final game of the season on the mound, Hayde Key went until he couldn't pitch anymore.
The Ridge Point junior tossed the maximum number of pitches allowed in a game before Clinton Welch had to come get him off of the mound.
Key, once again did what he's done all season for Ridge Point – put them in a position to win and preserving the bullpen.
"Hayde has been doing that," Welch said. "He has been eating up a lot of innings. That's for sure."
All season, Key has been one of the tougher pitchers in the Greater Houston area to figure out.
In March and April, Key posted a 0.86 ERA and in his junior campaign lost only two games. Entering the Class 6A State Semifinal game on Friday, Key was 5-0 with a 1.65 ERA in the playoffs.
"I'd just say command," Key said about what has been different for him this season. "Getting ahead of hitters, working at a fast pace."
Read more on Hayde here
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Cam Smith brought three dozen Shipley's glazed donuts to his Houston Astros teammates Thursday morning before his major league debut.
Then he really delivered, with an opposite-field single on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues to help Houston to a 3-1 win over the New York Mets.
“They all liked it, so that’s a good thing," Smith said of the donuts, a sentiment that could also apply to his second-inning hit that set up the first run of the game.
The 22-year-old prospect reached the majors after playing just 32 minor league games. Batting seventh and starting in right field, he became the second-youngest Astros position player to make his MLB debut as a starter on opening day and the youngest since Rusty Staub was 19 in 1963.
With one out in the second, Smith grounded a single to right field on a sinker from Clay Holmes to get his first big league hit in his initial plate appearance. Jeremy Peña dashed from first to third on the play and later scored on a groundout.
“I was just looking for a pitch and I wanted to ambush it and I got lucky with that base hit,” Smith said.
The poise he showed in his debut impressed his coaches and teammates.
“He's amazing," Jose Altuve said. “He went the other way on a tough pitch and he set the tone to score the first run. I know he's going to help this team a lot. He's going to be out there getting better and better. He's just so talented.”
Most believed that Smith, the 14th overall pick in last year’s amateur draft, would need more time in the minors when he was acquired in December from the Chicago Cubs along with Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski as part of the Kyle Tucker trade.
Instead, Smith hit .342 with a triple, four homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.130 OPS this spring to earn a spot on the major league roster.
The Astros announced he’d make the big league roster earlier this week, with manager Joe Espada inviting Smith's mother into the clubhouse to deliver the news. Video of the moment shared by the Astros captured the touching exchange.
After the trade, Smith moved from third base, where Paredes is starting, to right field, where he replaced Tucker.
Still wearing his dirt-stained uniform long after the last pitch Thursday, the kid who was playing college ball at Florida State at this time last year said he hadn’t had time to reflect on his whirlwind journey to the big leagues.
“I have not,” Smith said. “I was just out there with my family on the field appreciating this day and ... good thing we got done early so I can go home and get my feet under myself and think about it.”
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