'You don't see it every day': Chris Veach keeps Alabama's lineup off balance in dominant relief outing
They knew what was coming. But they could never figure out how to hit it.
Once Chris Veach jogged out of the bullpen on Tuesday, Alabama was ready for his go-to pitch: the change-up. He throws it more than any other pitch in his arsenal. And why shouldn’t he? Not many have cracked the case to this point.
“For me personally, when I was going up to bat, I was sitting on the change-up,” Alabama right fielder William Hamiter said. “I think the one I hit was a fastball, my first at-bat off of him, but that was his go-to pitch. So I was kind of preparing for it, sitting on it, me personally.”
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
While many hitters like Hamiter did their homework and knew Veach threw his change-up most of the time, the scouting report could only help so much. The right-hander fooled Alabama’s lineup for 5.2 innings, leading South Carolina to a first-round win in the SEC Tournament.
In the back of Veach’s mind, he knew the Crimson Tide would expect him to throw that pitch. Because of this, he had a good plan in mind to try and catch them off balance.
“I figured out they were sitting on it the way they were weight shifting in the box. And you just kind of mix it up,” Veach said. “That’s why I slide-step fastball a couple times, and then just hang my leg and like wait a little bit and throw. But getting ahead with the heater, like that was surprising, for sure.”
By mixing up his pitches, Veach was able to get ahead in majority of counts. And when the time was right, he gave Alabama’s hitters a quick hook with the change-up. He struck out six without a walk in his scoreless outing.
“It’s a weird pitch. You don’t see it every day,” Alabama catcher Mac Guscette said. “And I think you just got to calm yourself, kind of step back, take a breath and just go out there, and you know you’re going to do well. And I think that’s the best thing, just stay calm in those situations.”
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
Even Alabama’s head coach, Rob Vaughn, couldn’t believe how filthy Veach was throughout his time on the mound.
“Man, that’s an irregular pitch,” Vaughn said. “It’s a pitch that you try to take it and it’s a strike, and then you try to move on it, and, man, it’s 20 miles off a heater. Just a good pitch. He did a great job.”
At one point, Veach retired 13 straight batters going into the ninth inning. He’d face a little bit of a scare with two on and two out. But after a visit to the mound from pitching coach Matt Williams, the veteran reliever settled back in and was able to get the final out one pitch later.
“It’s like a big amount of trust to allow me to pitch that long,” Veach said. “Just basically Matt said, ‘One batter at a time,’ once I was at my third inning or so. So just a lot of trust, and I appreciate that from (him and Mark Kingston).”
