Chaska sophomore Thomas Leeper retired the first 19 batters he faced and nearly completed a historic no-hitter as the Hawks improved to 4-0 with a 5-2 victory over ranked Eden Prairie on Friday, April 17.

When the Chaska Hawks entered this season as one of Minnesota’s top-ranked Class 4A baseball programs, the expectations rested largely on a veteran pitching staff that figured to be among the best in the state.

Thomas Leeper decided there was no need to wait his turn to join that staff.

The sophomore has wasted no time making his mark. In just two outings, Leeper has already established himself as one of the best young pitchers in the area — and Friday’s performance against Eden Prairie was one of the finest pitching performances by a Hawk in quite some time.

Leeper carried a perfect game into the seventh inning and missed a no-hitter by a single out, leading the Hawks to a 5-2 victory over the Eagles that pushed their record to a sparkling 4-0 on the young season.

The win was no surprise to anyone who has followed this team. Coming in, the Hawks had already validated their lofty preseason ranking with a thrilling come-from-behind 8-7 victory over highly-ranked Minnetonka — the kind of win that separates contenders from pretenders. Friday’s opponent raised the stakes even higher, as Eden Prairie entered the game ranked in Class 4A themselves.

The Hawks passed the test again.

A Duel Worth the Price of Admission

Both pitchers came out dealing. Eden Prairie junior Luca Capelli was sharp from the first pitch, keeping Chaska’s bats quiet through the first three innings. But Leeper was something else entirely.

Four perfect innings. Twelve up, twelve down. The sophomore worked with a calm that belied his youth, executing his pre-game mental routine and trusting his stuff against one of the better lineups in the metro.

“Tommy was locked in and composed all game,” said Chaska Head Coach Craig Baumann. “It really starts with his pre-game mental prep that he does.”

The Hawks broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning on a heads-up sequence of events. Senior Captain Matthew Welter led off with an infield single, and Will Holk followed by reaching base. On an attempted pickoff at second, Capelli and the Eagle infielders had a miscommunication — the throw sailed into center field, and Welter never broke stride, scoring all the way from second to give Chaska a 1-0 lead.

Leeper answered with two more perfect innings in the fifth and sixth. Six up, six down. Eighteen consecutive batters retired. A perfect game still intact entering the seventh.

The Big Inning

With Leeper making Eden Prairie look helpless, the Hawks’ offense finally broke loose in the bottom of the sixth — and they saved their best for when it mattered most. All four runs scored with two outs.

Welter scored again when senior Captain Ethan Williams found a hole through the infield. Then, junior Kalin Jochum stepped up and pounded a double off the fence, plating both Holk and Williams. Giovanni Valente followed with a two-out floater of his own for another double, scoring Jochum and pushing the lead to 5-0.

It was exactly the kind of clutch, two-out production that defines championship-caliber teams.

“Just get guys on to take the pitcher out of rhythm a little bit,” Baumann said of the approach that unlocked the sixth inning.

One Out Away

With a five-run cushion and history in reach, Leeper took the mound in the seventh to try to finish the job. He started the inning with another strikeout. Nineteen up, nineteen down.

Then the Eagles pushed back.

A walk ended Leeper’s perfect game bid. A fielder’s choice at second put him one out from a no-hitter with two outs. But Eden Prairie refused to fold. A hit batter loaded the bases, and a single through the infield ended the no-hitter.

A weird hop to third base that Holk couldn’t handle gave the Eagles their first run of the game, with the bases still loaded.

Senior Captain Owen Strey came in from the bullpen to try to close it out and earn the save, with the tying run now at the plate. He hit his first batter, allowing a run to score.

But Strey settled in. He induced a groundout to second base, where Mason Gutowski fielded it cleanly and fired to Welter at first to record the final out. 

Leeper finished with eight strikeouts and just one out away from one of the most memorable individual performances in Chaska’s rich baseball history.

Early Returns

With four wins in the books, the Hawks have looked every bit the team the preseason polls projected — and then some.

“Pitching, defense and baserunning have been keys,” Baumann said when asked about the hot start.

Leeper’s near-historic outing only deepens what was already considered one of the state’s best pitching staffs. If Friday night is any indication, Chaska’s embarrassment of riches on the mound has gotten considerably richer.

The Chaska Baseball team has two upcoming home games, all at Chaska Athletic Park:

Friday, April 24, vs. Rogers (6 p.m.)

Monday, April 27, vs. Waconia (7 p.m.)