Perfect Game

To be perfect at anything is a rare feat, especially in the game of baseball.

In 100 plus of Major League Baseball, there has only ever been 21 perfect games thrown.

A perfect game is defined as; a game in which all the batters from one team are retired in order, with no one reaching base.

As of Thursday night Delcambre pitcher Hunter Dooley can add his name to the short list of pitchers that have ever thrown a perfect game.

Dooley and the Delcambre Panthers beat the Gueydan beats 12-0 in route to Dooley’s perfect game.

“It feels good,” Dooley said. “It wasn’t just me though. It was an entire team effort. I had to have my teammates back me up.

“It started going through my mind once I made my way through the lineup in the fourth. They started hitting the ball harder, and that’s when I first thought about the perfect game happening.”

Dooley’s coach, Johnny Trangmar has been coaching for 25 plus years, and this is the first perfect game he has ever seen.

“It’s special to be on the field when it happens,” Trangmar said. “I don’t care if you are watching two small high school teams go at it or at a MLB game, seeing a perfect game is special because it is hard to do at any level. I might not ever see another
one again, that’s how rare they are.”

Dooley has been playing the game of baseball since he was four or five years old, and the closest he has ever come to anything like this is a three of four hitter.

“I really have to give a lot of the credit to my teammates,” Dooley said. “They did most of the work, and with out them I wouldn’t have been able to it either. So, it’s their perfect game as much as it is mine.”

The Panthers did play some outstanding defense behind Dooley, as Dooley only struck out three batters.

“It was a great feeling when we got the final out,” Dooley said. “My teammates ran up to me and started hugging me and yelling ‘We did it,’ I’m just glad that we got the win.”

According to coach Trangmar, this perfect game couldn’t have happened to a better kid.

“He (Dooley) is great,” Trangmar said. “He is an honor student that just works his butt off. He does anything you ask. He is just a great kid, and I’m so proud of him and what he did.”

There is still a lot of season left for Dooley and the Panthers, and Dooley knows that.

“Yes this is exciting and I am happy about the perfect game, but there is still a lot of season left,” Dooley said. “We have some goals we have to meet and we need to keep working.”

The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday when they host Hanson.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor