May 3, 2024 at 9:56 p.m.

Picture perfect

Dues keeps Cardinals off bases in FR win
Fort Recovery High School senior Alex Dues gets doused with water by Mason Diller and Caden Homan after throwing the first perfect game in Fort Recovery baseball history on Thursday in a 4-0 victory against New Bremen. (Special to The Commercial Review/Kim Wendel)
Fort Recovery High School senior Alex Dues gets doused with water by Mason Diller and Caden Homan after throwing the first perfect game in Fort Recovery baseball history on Thursday in a 4-0 victory against New Bremen. (Special to The Commercial Review/Kim Wendel)

NEW BREMEN, Ohio —  A perfect game is one of the rarest accomplishments in sports.

Only 24 pitchers have recorded one in the MLB.

Alex Dues now holds the only perfect game in Fort Recovery baseball history.

Dues sat down all 21 of the New Bremen Cardinals that came to the plate on Thursday to make history in the Fort Recovery High School baseball team’s 4-0 victory.

Dues joins Jerry Obringer, Dale Bruns, Dominique Coughlin and Nick Twaits as the only Indians with a no hitter, while being the only player in FRHS history with a perfect game.

“It just doesn’t really seem real to me,” Dues said. “I wish I had it all on video so I could just rewatch it again and relive that moment. …

“I couldn’t have done it without Riggs (Tobe) behind the plate making good calls and not making any mistakes. My defense behind me, and having trust in them to make the next play, meant I can just keep pitching the ball and they’ll have my back.”

The FRHS senior had a comfortable 4-0 lead entering the seventh inning, but as the reality of the situation started to set in, Dues had to remind himself to stay focused.

“I was very, very nervous,” Dues said. “It was already 80 degrees outside and just going back onto the mound, it made everything like 10 degrees warmer it seemed like. I just knew I had to take it one batter at a time.”

Gavin Quellhorst led off the inning for New Bremen (6-10, 2-7 Midwest Athletic Conference). He took ball one before looking at a strike to even the count. Quellhorst hit the third pitch to second baseman Sage Wendel, who threw onto Gavin Faller at first to secure the first out.

Aaron Thieman drew a 2-2 count in the second at bat before connecting with the ball, which sailed to center. Troy Homan secured out number two to bring Dues within one out of history.

Nolan Kuenning stood at home plate as the deciding batter for Dues, who said he started shaking a bit at that point.

Fort Recovery’s ace got ahead early as Kuenning swung and missed at the first two pitches. Kuenning laid off two pitches that got called balls to even the count at 2-2. Finally, Dues threw a pitch to lock Kuenning up and catch him looking for strike three, the third out of the seventh, the final out of the game and the strikeout to put Dues’ name down in Fort Recovery history.

“It felt really cool and really amazing (to walk off the mound),” Dues said. “I already knew the chances of it happening were slim-to-none. But that very last pitch and seeing him strikeout looking and and the umpire calling it strike three and it just hit me. I finally did it.”

Dues struck out the Cardinals in eight of the 21 at bats. Dues said he focused on working his curveball and slider before throwing his fastball, while also working on the corners of the zone to produce the results.

Run support in the second and seventh innings secured the win for the Indians (7-6, 4-3 MAC). Dues helped his own cause with an RBI single in the second inning. Reece Wendel also drove in a run with a walk.

In the seventh, Alex Gaerke’s single drove in two runs. He finished as the Indians’ offensive leader with three hits and two RBIs.

Dues had the opportunity to reflect further about his achievements nearly a day after the game and he mentioned that he didn’t think it was possible for him to do. While Dues is currently the only player to throw a perfect game for FRHS baseball he wants to see more achieve the same after him.

“It’s still really, really exciting and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Dues said. “I really hope that other kids in years below me will get to fulfill this achievement and be in the same shoes I’m in right now. Feels really cool.”


PORTLAND WEATHER

Events

November

SU
MO
TU
WE
TH
FR
SA
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
27 28 29 30 31 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

To Submit an Event Sign in first

Today's Events

No calendar events have been scheduled for today.

250 X 250 AD