Old scorebooks, part 1: Lafayette ace Curtis Whitney’s pitching prowess in 1992

May 20, 2016 FieldsColumn

I came across my old baseball scorebooks recently, some more than 30 years old, and flipping through the pages was like stepping back in time.

Over the next few weeks I’ll share some of the most memorable individual and team post-season performances.

For example, I found the scorebook that documented Lafayette’s post-season run to the 1992 state championship. I had forgotten just how dominant Generals’ ace Curtis Whitney was in his four playoff starts that spring: 54 strikeouts in 28 innings (four complete games).

It was 24 years ago today — May 20, 1992 — that Whitney had 15 strikeouts in Lafayette’s 19-4 rout of Bryan Station in the 43rd District semifinals.

The junior right-hander followed up by throwing a no-hitter with 10 K’s and 2 walks in the Generals’ 3-0 victory over Lexington Catholic in the 11th Region finals.

Curtis Whitney’s reaction after his no-hitter against Lexington Catholic in the 1992 region finals as captured by the Herald-Leader.

In Whitney’s next outing he had 10 K’s and allowed 4 hits in a 16-8 win over Covington Catholic in the sectional semifinals.

Whitney capped off his post-season dominance with 17 K’s while throwing a 3-hitter as Lafayette rolled by Elizabethtown 14-2 in the state championship game at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro.

Lafayette’s offense provided plenty of support, of course. The Generals’ lineup included future Yankee draft choice Rod Smith and Rob Hauswald, arguably the best hitter Lexington has ever seen.

Whitney won the last 21 games of his high school career and had 220 K’s in his last 130 innings.

Whitney went on to pitch for Kentucky before injuries derailed his career.

Here’s the scorebook from Lafayette’s 14-2 rout of E-town in the 1992 state finals. Note Whitney’s 17 K’s.

Here's the scorebook from Lafayette's 14-2 win over Elizabethtown in the 1992 state finals. Curtis Whitney had 17 K's.

And here’s how Lafayette’s lineup provided all the run support in the title game:

lafay

Old scorebooks, part 1: Lafayette ace Curtis Whitney’s pitching prowess in 1992

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