Cole's First Pro Win is #4
4. Gerrit Cole's First Professional Win 4/30 vs. Jupiter (W 8-0)
It took five starts and more than a few bumpy innings on the hill through the month of April for Gerrit Cole to claim his first professional win. When he finally did earn a notch in the win column, he did it in style by carving up the most dominant lineup in the FSL on the final day of April.
Through scattered raindrops, the UCLA product dealt the high hard stuff to the Miami Marlins top prospects. Marcell Ozuna's first inning single was the only hit the Hammerheads would manage against the Bradenton ace. Cole collected a half dozen strikeouts with only one walk.
While Cole was making fish paste out of the Hammerheads lineup, Drew Maggi was quietly matching a Marauders offensive record with five runs scored. Maggi went 3-for-3 at the plate, stole two bases, walked, was hit by a pitch and came around to score on each of those ventures onto the base paths.
Cole's performance seemed all the more dramatic because it followed a strong start the night before by Jameson Taillon that helped the Marauders' other flamethrower earn his first of two FSL Pitcher of the Week awards. This was the one memorable example of the duo pitching on consecutive days and turning in dominant starts. That it came against Jupiter, a lineup that throttled the Bradenton pitching staff all season long, made it all the more notable.
In the moment, the most impressive part of the night was seeing Cole flash the dominance that his immense natural talent makes him capable of. Reflecting back upon it the statistical relevance of seeing the first win by Cole as a pro is very neat as well.
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