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Speltz, last spring’s Winona High baseball standout and UM-Duluth signee, started against Inver Grove Heights in what was his first mound appearance since he was shelved with a strained right rotator cuff before the season began.
“The first two weeks when I couldn’t throw at all,” Speltz said, “that was the worst. Sitting on the bench, you get an at-bat every three innings, it just didn’t seem like baseball for me.”
And so, fifty pitches would be it, and not a pitch more.
Hoeppner went to the mound to pull Speltz at 48. Speltz told Hoeppner he still had two pitches to throw. They had a good laugh, but of course, that was it for the right-hander.
It’s been a grueling six weeks of rehab for Speltz. Doctors determined his right shoulder blade was an inch-and-a-half higher than his left shoulder blade, an adaptation his body made from so much strain on his pitching arm.
“I’ve just been strengthening the muscles under the shoulder blade to try to pull it back down,” he said. “An hour’s worth of training every two days.”
Speltz did well with his 48 pitches, leading the LeJetz to a 6-1 win. He left the game with his team out front 4-0 after 31/3 innings of no-hit ball. He allowed no earned runs, struck out three, walked one and hit two batters.
Speltz’s battery mate, Jake Wanek, was also seeing his first action in the field this summer, after he battled a right shoulder injury.
Wanek went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
“(Speltz) threw the ball good,” Hoeppner said. “Jake played well behind the plate and had some big hits for us. I think they were both happy to get out on the field and play positions they’re supposed to be at.”
Grab a rake coach
WSU baseball coach Kyle Poock and assistant coach Seth Wing have the luxury of scouting six high school baseball teams in their own backyard with the legion tournament being held at WSU’s Loughrey Field.
Maybe that’s why the two coaches were kind enough to serve as the weekend’s makeshift grounds crew.
Poock watered the infield and tamped and raked the mound. Wing raked the batter’s box and chalked the lines.
“No grounds crew, the red-shirts are gone, everybody’s gone,” Poock said. “So Winger and I gotta do it. That’s all right, it reminds me of the old times when I had to do this all the time.”
Tournament time
With the Fourth of July basically marking the midway point of the legion summer baseball season, most teams will hit the tournament circuit.
This is the first year the LeJetz have hosted a tournament. They’ll also play in 13th Annual River City Classic July 6-8 in Eau Claire, Wis.
“The tournament’s are nice because you get to see teams you wouldn’t normally see,” Hoeppner said. “You like to see different teams and test yourself against opponents you’ve never seen.”
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