Landon Harmon hurls perfect game to lift East Union past Pisgah in 2A Championship opener
PEARL — Landon Harmon had been lights-out for East Union all season.
On Wednesday, he was perfect.
The sophomore Mississippi State commit hurled five innings of spotless baseball at Trustmark Park, leading the Urchins to a 14-0, five-inning blowout in Game 1 of the MHSAA Class 2A Championship Series.
East Union (29-5) can clinch its second-straight state championship with a win in Friday’s Game 2, which is set for a 4 p.m. start.
If they get another pitching performance like they did Wednesday, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Harmon was both magnificent and efficient, throwing 44 of his 63 pitches for strikes and racking up nine strikeouts without giving up a hit or a walk.
“The best part about it was that (Pisgah) knew I could pump (the velocity) up there,” Harmon said. “So when I took something off of it, it was that much more effective. It’s a little easier to get velocity on my slider, so the off-speed isn’t that much different than the fastball, and that combination was definitely working.”
While Harmon was dominating on the mound, the East Union offense went to work.
Pisgah coach Sam Starnes opted to save his best arm, Ryder White, for Game 2. In his stead, left-hander Lane Lewis drew the start and ran into immediate trouble.
The Urchins scored two runs in the first, five in the second, three in the third and four more in the fourth.
Drew Holliman led the way with five RBIs on two singles. Leadoff man Jude Treadaway went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and scored four runs. Rett Johnson had three this, three RBIs and scored twice. Ross Cochran had three RBIs on three hits.
“We had some good approaches on the lefty staying through the ball,” East Union coach Chris Basil said. “You saw most of our good contact came middle-away, which is what you want to do against a good left-handed arm… Our thing is putting pressure on you some way, some how, and we did a good job of that today.”
Lewis suffered the loss for Pisgah (25-8), allowing five earned runs on eight hits and a walk in two innings. Colton Coleman pitched the final two innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits with two walks.
The Dragons still have White to throw in Game 2, although a win in that game would set up a Game 3 in which Harmon would be available to pitch again.
“We just haven’t seen that kind of velocity since earlier in the year,” Pisgah coach Sam Starnes said. “We handled it better then than we did today. We haven’t seen an arm of that caliber in the playoffs, and we didn’t make very good adjustments. It's not the first time we've been beat, and it's not the first time we've been 10-run ruled. We just have to regroup and come back Friday ready to play."
