Hutchison strikes out 11 in Nuts' shutout

In just two seasons in professional baseball, Austin Hutchison has witnessed almost everything the Minor Leagues have to offer, logging innings for all but one of the Mariners' United States-based affiliates. 
The second-year right-hander pitched like the seasoned veteran Seattle has trusted him to be in spots, recording a career-high 11 strikeouts and allowing three hits over six innings as Class A Advanced Modesto beat Inland Empire, 1-0, on Saturday at John Thurman Field.

Gameday box score
"I feel like everything was quite good tonight," Hutchison said. "I was working both sides of the plate and was able to use my off-speed in any count, so it kept them honest to everything and whatnot. I just tried to go as long as I could, give the team the best chance to win." 
Hutchison has made appearances at four different levels for the second consecutive season, pitching two innings for Double-A Arkansas and five for Triple-A Tacoma. Modesto has been his primary home in 2018 -- he has a 3.88 ERA over 65 innings with the Nuts. 
It didn't take long for Hutchison to get a taste of baseball's last stepping stone to the big leagues as he made three starts in the Rookie-level Arizona League before allowing two runs over 1 2/3 innings in a relief appearance in Tacoma. Despite the rocky results, he relishes the experience because of what he learned. 
"That was phenomenal, so glad I got to do that," he said. "I was able to grow myself by learning things from the older guys, guys that have been in the big leagues, and that just helped me ever more, helping me understand the game more and what I can do better and stuff like that.
"When I pitched in Triple-A last year, it wasn't one of my best outings, but I tried to take it as a positive and learn from it and whatnot. That kind of just helped show me no matter who you're pitching against, your strengths and whatnot will help you be successful and you have to compete, no matter where you're at." 
Hutchison was nabbed in the 27th round of the 2017 Draft after going 12-1 with a 1.80 ERA as a senior at the University of Mount Olive, a Division II school. The feeling of being drafted from a small school almost brought him to tears as he watched the Draft unfold from his apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Victoria. 
"With the senior year I had, I was hoping for sure I would get the call," Hutchison said. "I took it as, 'This is your chance to show what you have to anyone in the stands or whoever's watching that you have what it takes' and that I could compete. And when I finally got the call, it was awesome, almost breaking down in tears, feeling like I finally made it. I'm definitely blessed to be where I'm at today." 
Hutchison allowed two baserunners in the first as Angels No. 2 prospect Brandon Marsh singled and David MacKinnon reached on third baseman Joe Rizzo's error. But he escaped the minor jam by getting Jonah Todd to ground out to first. Hutchison fanned nine of his next 18 batters, striking out the side in the second and sixth, while working around two-out doubles by Richie Fecteau in the fourth and MacKinnon in the sixth. 

The Nuts loaded the bases in the seventh on walks by Jack Larsen, Nick Thurman and Beau Branton, scoring their lone run on a wild pitch by Eduardo Rivera. 
Spencer Herrmann (1-0) walked three but struck out three in the seventh to get the win. Anthony McIver picked up his second save by stranding two baserunners in the ninth. Zane Gurwitz led off with a double and Bernabe Camargo singled with one out, but Torii Hunter Jr. struck out and Marsh flied to right to end the game.