ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Now Salkeld Earns His Keep With Bat

How would Roger Salkeld pitch to himself?

“Curveballs,” Salkeld said. “Curveballs outside. That’s what they threw me and I struck out three times. I haven’t been able to hit them yet.”

Salkeld endured his first three-strikeout game as a hitter in Friday’s Golden League game against Burroughs of Ridgecrest. But the 6-5 junior right-hander more than made up for his poor plate performance as he pitched Saugus to a 3-1 victory that kept the Centurions a game out of first place.

Fastballs. Fastballs anywhere in the strike zone. That’s what Salkeld used to strike out 17 overmatched Burroughs batters.

It was Salkeld’s second one-hit, 17-strikeout performance this season. The victory raised his strikeout total to 86--matching that of last year--and improved his record to 6-2. He also lowered his earned-run average to 1.46.

The way Salkeld has pitched, who cares if he has trouble hitting the curve? He does and it’s beginning to pay off.

“My goal this year was to hit over .300,” he said. “I haven’t hit all my life.”

Salkeld’s life as a dog at the plate may be over. This year, he moved into the lineup as a first baseman on non-pitching days. He’s batting .314 and has two home runs.

“We hoped that he’d hit about .325-.350 for us this year,” assistant Bill Bolde said. “But that’s just icing on the cake. He’s already making major contributions with his pitching.”

Saugus Coach Doug Worley, who has worked to improve Salkeld’s swing, cares mostly about what Salkeld does when the opposition takes its cuts.

“I was pleased that he was still able to pitch well after he struck out three times,” Worley said. “He’s tough. The wind was kind of coming in. He had a couple of strikeouts on curves, but he pretty much just blew ‘em down.”

It has become a familiar scene with Salkeld, who averages 1.6 strikeouts every inning and throws a fastball about 85 m.p.h.

“It was just like any other game,” he said. “But I could have done better.”