12-year-old strikes out all 18 in perfect game
Advertiser Staff
Samson Aina, a 12-year-old right-hander pitching for Waipi'o, struck out all 18 batters in a District 7 Little League Majors Division all-star tournament game against Waipahu yesterday in Waipi'o.
Courtesy Peter Yuh
The final score was 8-0.
Samson Aina, a seventh-grader-to-be at Our Lady Of Good Counsel School, never pitched a no-hitter before yesterday.
The tournament for 11-12 year olds plays six-inning games and uses top players from different regions.
"I never knew I had a no-hitter (going)" said Aina, 5-foot-4 and 140 pounds. "I just heard all the players saying no-hitter to me. They were saying in the fourth, fifth inning; you got a no-hitter."
Aina said this was the "first time I ever pitched a no-hitter; came close once. I had 15 strikeouts, but gave up two hits."
Aina said he almost lost the perfect game to lead off the sixth when he ran a 3-0 count to a batter.
"That was like the hardest challenge," Aina said.
Aina said he relied on his "fastball, curveball and double click (a harder version of a fastball)."
Aina said he couldn't recall if most of the strikeouts were called or swinging.
The gem came against a Waipahu team that had been augmented by players from the area for the tournament. In the regular season, Waipahu beat Aina's team, 1-0. It was one of two loses Aina experienced during the season.
