The month of May: A time for flowers, Mother’s Day, and 20-strikeout games.
Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood achieved this feat on May 6, 1998, striking out 20 Astros in a one-hit shutout. Former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson did so on May 8, 2001, striking out 20 through nine innings in an extra-inning game. Max Scherzer got 20 Ks for the Washington Nationals on May 11, 2016. And on Wednesday night, the anniversary of the Big Unit’s performance, Aidan King of Bishop Snyder High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) accomplished the same, and he can say something the others can’t:
King did it in a seven-inning game. He struck out 20 of the 21 Providence School batters he retired and only faced 24 total after allowing a single and a walk in the fourth inning, picking up a fielder’s choice to end the frame, and then hitting a batter in the seventh inning, according to the Florida Times-Union.
Other than that fourth inning, the fielders might as well have not even been out there. King mowed down the order through the rest of the game.
He finished the game at 105 pitches, the exact standard limit of the Florida High School Athletic Association, according to the Florida Times-Union.
With that performance — and a solo home run — King led Bishop Snyder to a 3-0 win in the Region 1-3A quarterfinals.
King is a top-100 prospect committed to the University of Florida. This season, he has a record of 9-1 with a 0.81 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 69.33 innings, according to the Florida Times-Union.
The 19-8 Cardinals will take on Pensacola Catholic in the regional semifinals on Friday.