Sports Editor Piedmont pitcher Caleb Lunnon will take the mound in today’s Class 5A state tournament opener vs. McAlester with a singular mindset.
He wants to dominate every hitter that steps into the box.
Lunnon’s take-no-prisoners approach has made him one of the most successful starting pitchers in Oklahoma this season. His 0.55 ERA is one of the lowest in the state.
Put simply, in his own words, Lunnon is ‘the dude.’
He wants the ball in the biggest moments and today’s game at Edmond Santa Fe is Piedmont’s most important to date. First pitch is set for 11 a.m.
“He has the moxy of a dominant ace,” head coach Adam Skokowski said. “He wants the ball and he wants to throw the whole game.”
Lunnon has plenty of state tournament experience heading into today. He pitched six scoreless innings in the quarterfinals last season, but had to exit the game early due to a high pitch count. Piedmont led 1-0 when Lunnon left, but couldn’t hold the lead and lost 3-1 to Coweta.
“We’ve been working on pitching to contact more so that doesn’t happen again,” Skokowski said.
Lunnon could even come back to pitch in Saturday’s state title game, but only if everything goes Piedmont’s way on Thursday and Friday.
“We have to secure those games first,” Skokowski said.
TAKING IT PERSONALLY
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound righty treats every matchup with a hitter as a grudge match he refuses to lose and rarely does. In 53.2 innings this season he’s struck out 53 batters and allowed only four earned runs.
“I like to think of myself as intimidating,” Lunnon said. He prefers to go right at his opposition instead of tricking them with offspeed pitches. “My favorite thing to do is to throw a fastball right down the middle and have them swing through it.”
Lunnon didn’t always carry this much confidence, though. It took plenty of hard work to become the pitcher he is now.
Lunnon recalled times as a freshman when he was scared to throw to Piedmont’s best hitters during practice. That fear motivated him to work out six days a week and to stay disciplined off the field.
His confidence grew steadily. By his sophomore season, Lunnon had improved enough to tell his older teammates he would be better than them soon.
His velocity increased from the mid 70s as a freshman to as high as 92 earlier this season.
“Now, as a senior, I know I’m the dude,” he said.
The added MPH on his fastball hasn’t taken away from his offspeed pitches. Skokowski said Lunnon has a ‘plus changeup’ and that his curve ball ‘has gotten a lot better.’
The full repertoire helped Lunnon win a pitcher’s duel against University of Oklahoma commit Bauer Brittain of Shawnee, 2-1, last season. He also earned wins against Edmond Memorial, Carl Albert and Enid this year.
Lunnon has signed to play at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa next season and Skokowski believes after two more years of refinement, Lunnon could easily be ready to sign with a Division I school.
“He has that kind of potential,” the coach said.
First, though, Lunnon wants to close his high school career with the best possible ending.
“To get a ring…that would be amazing,” he said.
