Shields Returns for Hart, Picking Up Where He Left Off

In a highly anticipated return, Jamie Shields of Hart High made his season debut Wednesday, pitching two shutout innings of relief during the Indians’ 5-3 Foothill League baseball victory over visiting Canyon.

Bill Susdorf recorded a school-record seventh save to help Hart (16-3, 8-0 in league) open a 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Burroughs (7-2) in the Foothill race.

Shields (1-0) missed 18 games and close to two months recovering from a strained muscle in his back. When he took the mound in the fifth inning, he was greeted with a standing ovation by Hart fans.

Throwing only fastballs and change-ups while feeling no pain, Shields made 24 pitches, with his fastball clocked at 88 mph.

Shields was so excited he showed up to Hart’s field more than three hours before game time and paced like an expectant father.

“[Tuesday] night when he went to bed it was like Christmas Eve,” Shields’ mother, Cindy, said. “He went, ‘I don’t know if I can sleep.’ ”

Shields’ absence has been frustrating for an 18-year-old who had an 11-0 record last season and is considered a potential first-round draft pick.

There’s no reason he can’t regain his status as a top prospect if he proves he’s healthy, and his performance against Canyon was a good beginning.

“I’m back,” Shields said. “It felt real good. I was real pumped up. I want to take it one step at a time. All season, I’ve been dying to get out here. I just want to play the game of baseball because I love it more than anything.”

Shields didn’t want to leave the game in the seventh, but Coach Jim Ozella had him on a pitch count and wasn’t going to let him continue no matter how strong he felt.

“He loves to battle, he loves to fight,” Ozella said. “I told him, ‘Hey, this is step one.’ I was really encouraged. I thought his velocity was good, his location was good.”

Shields provided a glimpse of his immense talent in the sixth. With the score tied, 3-3, and runners on first and third, he struck out Josh Lagrotta with an overpowering fastball. He finished with two strikeouts, walked one and gave up an infield single.

Canyon (9-5, 5-3) opened a 3-0 lead, but Hart tied the score in the fourth on a run-scoring double by Brandon Montemayor and a two-run double by Matt Moore. Three Canyon errors in the sixth pushed across the winning runs.

In came Susdorf, who broke Andrew Lorraine’s 1990 save record with a scoreless seventh.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Susdorf, whose earned-run average dropped to 0.40.