The mound return was worth the long wait

Eight weeks after he threw what he thought might be his last pitch of the season, Casa Grande High School junior Mario Taormina threw around 90 more. Not one of those pitches was hit safely by Petaluma’s frustrated batters.

On the state stage that is the Boras Classic, one of the most prestigious high school tournaments in California, Taormina shut down the Gauchos’ rivals, allowing just one walk in a 7-0 Casa victory.

His near perfection came just one day after he returned to the mound following eight weeks of recuperation from hip pain that he first discovered while pitching on Feb. 22. Rest was prescribed, and it wasn’t until April 15 in a Boras Classic game against Sacred Heart Cathedral that he returned to the mound, pitching one perfect inning.

Two days later, he was back on the hill to face his many friends and rivals on the Petaluma High team. Mixing his fastball on both sides of the plate and augmenting it with a well-behaving curve ball, he sent the Trojans back to their dugout almost as swiftly as they came to the plate.

Taormina needed just one piece of extraordinary defensive help, a circus catch by left fielder Elijah Waltz. “He saved my neck,” the pitcher said.

Taormina admits that he knew early on that he hadn’t given up a hit. “You always think about it,” he explained.

As the innings wore on, his teammates were also obviously aware of what was happening, but no one uttered the unmentionable.

“No one wanted to jinx it,” said the pitcher.

Taormina lost his perfect game in the sixth inning when he walked Petaluma’s patient Gavin Ochoa. “I thought I might strike him out,” the pitcher said. “I had a 2-1 count and threw a curve ball right down the middle that would have made the count 2-2, but the umpire called it a ball to make it 3-1, and then I walked him.”

Undaunted, Taormina finished the job, but it wasn’t easy. Although he tried to work out during his convalesce, it was still a stretch to throw a full seven-inning game.

“My arm began to get a little sore in the fifth inning. I just sucked it up and kept throwing. I knew I would be all right as long as I kept throwing strikes,” he said.

The pitcher gives much credit for his success to catcher Cole Santander.

“Cole was great framing the pitches,” he explained. “He’s a brick wall back there.”

Taormina said he would love to move on to play college baseball, but he has some more immediate goals - like helping pitch Casa Grande into the North Coast Section playoffs.

At 7-8 on the season and 4-4 in Vine Valley Athletic League play, the Gauchos are on the bubble as the campaign heads into its final month.

Having a no-hit pitcher back in the rotation will certainly help.