No. 12 Serves Up a Baker's Dozen - Caleb Smith

The Delmarva Shorebirds make their only scheduled appearance at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park this season after recently winning three of four games at home against the Charleston RiverDogs. However, Charleston pitcher Caleb Smith, the only left-handed thrower on the entire roster, gave the Shorebirds quite a performance in the lone RiverDogs win of that series.

Smith fired 13 strikeouts in six shutout innings during a 6-0 Charleston win on April 24 at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. It is the best single-game total in affiliated minor league baseball and the highest mark for any RiverDogs pitcher in the past decade. Smith also earned South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week accolades for his accomplishment.

"It was a really great experience," Smith said. "They are really good hitters. I just had good stuff that day, and everything worked out."

The southpaw struck out two Shorebirds in each inning pitched except for the fifth when he had three strikeouts. Smith finished his shutout start with 60 strikes on 89 total pitches. Most of his early work was accomplished by pounding fastball after fastball into the strike zone.

"I like to try to go through the lineup at least once using as many fastballs as I can, not showing them the off-speed too much. That's pretty much my game plan, and it worked out."

Smith's game plan is part of a philosophy that is shared by RiverDogs manager Luis Dorante. A former minor league catcher and major league bullpen coach, Dorante talked about how important fastball command is during the April 26 edition of "Saturday Dog Talk."

"Once they get to the higher level, they're going to have to use their fastball," Dorante said. "They have to establish that right now here. We've been doing that the last two weeks, and that's something that I'd like to see more, more, and more with everybody."

A critical key to Smith's success and his high strikeout total at Delmarva was Kale Sumner, his catcher. Oddly enough, Sumner has primarily been a utility player with many appearances at the corner infield and outfield positions.

Sumner entered the season with no games caught since his junior year at Hawaii Pacific University in 2012. At Delmarva, Sumner would catch Charleston's first shutout of the season in his third game at catcher and his second as Smith's battery mate. Smith allowed just three hits and one walk while picking up his 13 strikeouts with Sumner behind the plate.

"He's a great catcher," Smith said. "We're pretty much on the same page every outing. He blocks balls, he receives the ball well, and he calls a great game. I haven't shaken him off yet."

Smith also had a shutout start against Rome on April 19 and a perfect inning versus Augusta on April 30 in a game that was suspended due to rain. He closed the month of April with 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings pitched and a Sally League-low 0.84 earned run average.

"My stuff has started to come around a lot, and I'm started to get the feel for everything again," Smith said.

In 2013, Dorante was a first base coach for the Trenton Thunder when Smith made a spot start in a doubleheader against the Portland Sea Dogs last August. Dorante looked back to that outing and has liked what he has now seen from Smith in five starts for the RiverDogs.

"The strides he has made from then until now have been very impressive," Dorante said to reporters after Smith's start against Augusta. "He's a guy with very good stuff, he'll go right after hitters, and I think he could be in the running for a promotion soon."

Smith's efficiency is a highlight within a very talented RiverDogs rotation. The southpaw has held his opponents scoreless in all but one start and carries his impressive scoreless innings streak into another series against Delmarva. If history repeats itself against the Shorebirds, Charleston and its lone lefty will gladly take the result.