Poly Strong-Armed by Palmdale Junior Ace Harrington, 5-2

Imagine how far Palmdale High could have gone in the Southern Section Division I playoffs last season had hard-throwing right-hander Matt Harrington been healthy.

Stuck on the bench for two months because of a muscle pull in his neck, Harrington wasn’t around when Palmdale was eliminated by eventual champion Crescenta Valley in the quarterfinals.

“It was, ‘Man, I wish I could be out there,’ ” he said.

The 6-foot-3 Harrington is back and better than ever. He shut down highly regarded Poly in his season debut Friday, striking out eight, walking one and allowing five hits in six impressive innings as Palmdale defeated the Parrots, 5-2, in a San Fernando Valley tournament game at Poly.

“I worked all summer to get back,” Harrington said.

Using an overpowering fastball and throwing an occasional curveball and slider for strikes, Harrington dominated the Parrots (1-1) after giving up two runs in the first.

He retired the final seven batters and allowed only one hit after the third inning.

“Whenever Matt gets out there, we expect him to pitch like this,” Coach Lance Pierson of Palmdale said.

Added Coach Chuck Schwal of Poly: “That’s probably an average game for him. The thing is he had three or four different pitches.”

Harrington, a junior, pitched for the U.S. team that won the gold medal last summer at the World Youth Championships in Fairview Heights, Ill.

“That was one of the greatest things, winning a gold medal at 16 years old,” he said.

Chris Testa of Palmdale, a senior center fielder who has signed with Cal State Northridge, hit a two-run home run over the right-field fence in the third inning, something that happens only on rare occasions at Poly’s field.

“You should see some of the balls [Testa] hits at our park,” Pierson said.