by DAVE FACINOLI

Staff Writer

Until his performance last week, Jimmy Saris wasn’t necessarily a household name in the local baseball circles outside of Langley High School. But he is now.

BASEBALL

That’s because the 6-foot junior right-hander shut down the two-time defending Northern Region champion Madison Warhawks (0-2) to lead the Langley Saxons (2-0) to a 2-1 victory in a Liberty District high school game last week. Saris (1-0) tossed a complete-game two-hitter as he struck out 11, did not walk a batter, and threw 97 pitches. His fastball was clocked as high as 90 mph during the game.

“He’s very good,” Madison coach Mark Gjormand said. “He threw a slider for a strike that was nasty.”

Saris compiled a 3-1 record with a 2.31 earned run average for Langley in 2003 when he was the Saxons’ No. 3 starter. This year he’s the ace of the staff. In nine innings so far this spring, Saris has 16 strikeouts, has not walked a batter and has a 0.00 ERA.

“Jimmy worked very hard during the off season,” Langley coach Jeff Ferrell said. “He has great mound presence and composure.”

Saris mixed his slider and fastball with great effectiveness against Madison.

“He was getting on both sides of the plate with his fastball and his slider was breaking late,” Ferrell said. “He threw an absolute gem.”

Said Gjormand: “They are obviously a team we’re going to have to beat, and he’s a pitcher we’ll have to beat because we’ll probably see him every time we play.”

Langley had just four hits off of Madison pitchers Brian Eck and Matt Riffee. Langley’s Alex Dadisman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and scored a run on a single by Danny McLean. Johnny Ayers scored Madison’s run on a throwing error.

“If you win against a quality team like Madison, that’s a boost for your confidence,” Ferrell said.

The win snapped Langley’s six-game losing streak to Madison.