SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. – Anytime a team wins a championship, there are multiple players who are responsible.
And the Clarion baseball team’s PIAA Class 1A title-winning squad is no different.
But one player, perhaps, stood above the rest in a quiet way in 2023.
Junior right-handed Devon Lauer is an unassuming, soft-spoken, young man.
To look at him you would not suspect one of the best pitchers in Pennsylvania and perhaps the best pitcher in Class 1A.
But the numbers don’t lie.
Lauer finished the season with a 9-1 record and a 0.50 – yes you are reading that correctly – ERA. He barely allowed over a base runner per inning – his WHIP (Walk and hits per inning pitched) was 1.04 – and opponents got on base against him just 27.7% of the time while hitting .202.
“Devon had one of the best pitching years I have seen since I have coached,” Clarion manager Rob Jewett said. “Some of his stats are pretty eye-popping with an ERA of 0.50 and a walk/strikeout ratio (of just over 3 strikeouts per walk), opponent batting average, etc. You would think he throws 90 plus to have stats like that, but he doesn’t.”
No, Lauer doesn’t have any overpowering “stuff”. Instead, he harkens back to an era where pitching was just that pitching, not throwing.
Lauer’s fastball sits in the mid-70s while most high school “stars” throw in the mid-to-upper-80s and a few lucky ones touch 90 mph.
But what Lauer doesn’t have in speed he more than makes up for in pinpoint control and a devastating breaking ball not to mention a delivery that makes his fastball appear faster than it really is.
“He has a great delivery that makes his fastball sneaky fast,” Jewett said. “He lives on the corners and mixes up his curveball in the same spot. He makes hitters hit his pitches and lets the defense do the rest, He can get strikeouts when he needs them, but he is smart to use his defense and conserve pitches.”
Conserving pitches is an understatement.
In an era where high school pitchers routinely hit the 100- (regular season) or 105- (postseason) pitch limit and then have to sit out three days before they can even think about pitching, Lauer averaged 66.2 pitches per outing and just 14.2 per inning.
That allowed him to do the unheard of in the PIAA. Without any rainouts that pushed anything back, Lauer started all four PIAA playoff games and tossed 16 innings in the PIAA postseason on just 225 pitches, an average of 56,3 pitches per game and 14.06 per inning.
Clarion assistant coach Lee Weber, a college catcher at D2 Clarion in his playing days, said one of Lauer’s biggest attributes is Lauer’s ability to keep control of where the ball is going even when pitching with different rhythms.
“He is one of the best with holding and picking runners off,” Weber said. “He is never predictable in his rhythm. This throws off the runner but also the hitter’s timing. When you pitch with different rhythms, this can make the pitcher a bit wild. But, Devon can still maintain the same release point. This, to me, makes him special over most.”
In five playoff outings, one in the District 9 playoffs and four in the PIAA postseason, Lauer tossed 23 straight scoreless innings allowing just 17 hits. He closed the season with 26 ⅓ consecutive scoreless innings and gave up just nine runs, four earned, all season.
“It’s kind of crazy,” a humbler Lauer said with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
It isn’t crazy to his coaches.
“He is almost the full package as a pitcher,” Weber said. “He is just missing some velocity.”
Lauer’s ERA ranks among the best in all of Pennsylvania – among players whose correct stats (not just pitch counts) were reported to MaxPreps.com, Lauer’s 0.50 ERA ranked tied for fifth in the state and it was first among Class 1A pitches. His nine wins tied for 100th in THE COUNTRY, tied for fifth in Pennsylvania, and tied for first in Class 1A.
“I’m just so proud of what he accomplished this year on the mound,” Jewett said. “Not giving up a run in every playoff appearance and going 5-0 is pretty remarkable, almost historical. He is such a great young man, an unbelievable competitor, and an amazing teammate. I am so happy for the success he had this year individually and as a team.”
