Summer And Smoke: M.S. 51 Student Graeme Lauterbach-Mason Strikes Out 17 Batters In Travel Baseball Game

So what did you accomplish this summer?

Eighth-grader Graeme Lauterbach-Mason returned to M.S. 51 last week with quite an accomplishment under his belt. And his parents may have to consider an insurance policy for this young man’s arm.

Graeme has been playing baseball for about seven years, and his passion for the game has led to competing in an intensive travel league for the St. Francis Xavier Huskies. The long, hot summer certainly loosened up his arm.

The first pitch was 6pm on Thursday, July 21. The Huskies were facing the Brooklyn Baseball Association Blue Jays at American Legion Field in Canarsie.

Graeme started by striking out the first seven batters in a row. Could he actually be pitching a perfect game? Would he smoke 21 batters in a row? (The travel baseball league plays seven innings, in case the hard core fans are scratching their heads.)

After pitching 2 1/3 innings without giving up a ball, an opposing Blue Jay hit an infield bloop single.

The break-up of a perfect game didn’t stop the pitcher’s heat. Nor did it stop his teammates from keeping track of the stats. “They were the ones doing math,” he said.

As the innings went on, Coach Joe Caballo met with Graeme to make sure he was ok to keep pitching. And there was also an assistant coach who was also keeping close track of the pitcher’s arm.

Graeme’s father and assistant coach Mark Lauterbach was sitting nearby his son in the dugout. “The hardest part was deciding to let him keep pitching,” said Lauterbach. “I was watching for signs of him getting tired — his pitch count was high. But he seemed to keep getting better as the game went on.”

“I wasn’t tired,” said Graeme. “I hadn’t pitched in two weeks. My velocity was high and the arm was feeling good.”

Graeme would finish with an astounding 17 strikeouts in 98 pitches.

Oh, and the team won 3-0.

The pitcher helped the team out on offense as well, scoring two runs. He singled, walked, and stole second base.

For those less familiar with baseball statistics, the record for most strikeouts in a nine-inning major league game is 20. Three pitchers have accomplished the feat: Roger Clemens for the Boston Red Sox (twice, both in 1996), Kerry Wood for the Chicago Cubs in 1998, and most recently Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals on May 11, 2016.

Whether it’s little league, farm club teams, or major league baseball, 17 strikeouts in one game is extremely rare.

So how did Graeme celebrate after the game?

“I went back to the car and tension started flooding out,” he said. “I was so hot and sweaty, and all I wanted to do was go home.”

Graeme and his dad headed back to their Kensington apartment.

Pitcher Graeme Lauterbach-Mason coached Park Slope Stoop editor Donny Levit for the first pitch he threw at the Brooklyn Cyclones game on July 2. (Video by Dina Rabiner)

Not surprisingly, Graeme isn’t your run-of-the-mill kid. And this journalist knows from experience — the 12-year-old was my coach this summer in preparation for throwing out the first pitch at a Brooklyn Cyclones game. He got me to throw a passable ball which admittedly struck the plate (But if you don’t look too hard, it actually looks like I threw a strike).

“You should have thrown from the front of the mound like we talked about,” he said. “You would have pitched a perfect strike.”

Graeme is also an avid baseball card collector, who can be regularly found combing The Hot Corner (2980 Nostrand Avenue at Avenue P). His treasures include the 1954 rookie card for Sandy Koufax, a 1971 Carl Yastrzemski, and a rookie 1989 of Ken Griffey Jr.

And while he’s a huge Red Sox fan, this publication is trying very hard not to hold that against him.

But it’s not all baseball all the time. Graeme surfs Rockaway Beach with his dad during the summer. “I’m into 90s alternative music,” he adds. Favorites include Pearl Jam, Meat Puppets, and the Goo Goo Dolls.

Social Studies and Algebra are two of his favorite subjects. R.J. Palacio’s Wonder and Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game are two of his favorite books.

And like any Brooklynite, Graeme has his favorite pizza place. “When I was going to P.S. 10, me and my friends went to Mike Daddy’s [449 7th Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets],” he said. “I got one slice and one soda. Oh, and you had to get the 50-cent garlic knots.”

Graeme hasn’t slowed down in the baseball world. A few weeks back, he combined with another pitcher for their second no-hitter of the season.

He’s enjoyed having his dad in the dugout and his mom, Lorna Mason, in the stands throughout the summer.

And you can find him in Prospect Park throwing pitches with his dad on the weekend.

“It’s fun pitching to him, it’s really nice” Graeme says of his father.

“I guess I’m kind of better than him.”