RIDGEFIELD – Cooper Rons called the outing likely the most efficient of his young career, and it’s easy to see why.
In his second start for the Ridgefield Raptors, the plan was to build up the 6-foot-2 right-handed UC Santa Barbara pitcher from 45 pitches one week ago to 65 on Saturday against the Victoria HarbourCats.
It just so happened that number, plus four extra pitches, carried him through six scoreless innings with one strikeout and five hits scattered across them.
“I feel like command is always key and I was throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes,” Rons said. “I kind of pride myself on trying to get ahead early and get to two strikes as quick as possible. I couldn’t get as many strikeouts as I wanted to, but I got a lot of early contact.