Jack Leiter’s no-hitter is especially impressive when video shows all 16 strikeouts
By Keith Farner
Published:
Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter walked the first batter he faced on Saturday then proceeded to retire 27 straight hitters en route to a no-hitter against South Carolina. The sophomore threw 124 pitches, the last of which delivered a swinging strikeout for the final out in a 5-0 Vanderbilt win.
Leiter had never faced an SEC team before. He had never thrown more than five innings in a game for the Commodores. Saturday was just his eighth career start in a Vandy uniform, according to the program.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound right hander pitched his first no-hitter in high school in 2018. His father Al Leiter, the former MLB pitcher, was there for that one, and he was on West End on Saturday, too.
“They’re very emotional right now,” Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said Leiter’s parents being on hand. “To have their kid here, to be pitching like that – it’s just a special moment. Their child goes about what he does in such a mature manner that you’re glad to see him get rewarded in such a way.”
Leiter described the experience and how his pitches came out.
“On a day like today where neither breaking ball is working for, really, the first six innings, I’m going to keep throwing it when I normally would until I find it,” Leiter said. “Today was honestly a little later than I would have liked. It would have made things a little bit easier if I could have thrown those for strikes early on.”
Here’s the video of his strikeouts:
16 Ks.
Zero hits.Every strikeout from @jackleiter22‘s no-hitter ♨️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/s3IAZZwGIx
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 20, 2021
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
