Matt Magill was hoping for a pleasant Sunday afternoon as the starting pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts, but he exceeded his hopes.
In pacing the Lookouts to an 8-2 whipping of Mobile at AT&T Field, Magill allowed just one run in seven innings and tallied seven strikeouts. The 22-year-old right-hander also had an RBI double and scored twice.
“It’s kind of a dream come true as far as one game,” Magill said. “It felt good pitching, and my hitting brought me back to high school.”
Sunday marked Magill’s second consecutive outing in which he allowed a run in seven innings. The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder had not reached base in six plate appearances before Sunday, and because pitchers in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization don’t have to hit until they reach Double-A, Magill hadn’t reached since his days at Royal High in Simi Valley, Calif.
With the Lookouts leading 2-1 in the fifth inning, Magill drew a walk and eventually scored on a Kevin Munson balk to make it 4-1. Magill’s at-bat to remember occurred in the sixth, when he followed a walk by Matt Wallach with a double to right that extended Chattanooga’s advantage to 6-1.