Brett Deboer Lakeland Year: Junior Sport: Baseball Position: Pitcher

A week into the high school baseball season, Brett DeBoer was concerned that he might not pitch this spring.

Every year since his freshman season, DeBoer has battled tenderness in his arm. But this year the 6-foot-6 left-handed pitcher had pain in his left shoulder, and the discomfort caught his attention.

Lakeland coach Ken Busch exercised caution, allowing DeBoer to work the pain out at his pace. “We were real concerned at first, then we started treating it with typical injury-type remedies (ice and heat),” Busch said.

“I worked the pain out by throwing a little bit every day,” DeBoer said. “I think it was a stretched muscle.”

After three starts in the past two weeks, DeBoer is throwing better than ever.

DeBoer, who started as a freshman and collected two wins at state in Lakeland’s drive for a State A-2 championship, is 3-0. He tossed a five-inning no-hitter Saturday against Bonners Ferry. Earlier last week, he struck out 15 and allowed just two hits in a win at St. Maries.

He’s recorded 36 strikeouts in 18 innings and allowed just five walks. His earned run average is 1.17.

Busch suspects that some bad habits contributed to DeBoer’s early arm problems.

“He was dropping his elbow and not following through,” Busch said. “He’s starting to throw the ball harder and he’s starting to get more velocity on the ball because he’s increasing his strength.”

DeBoer’s career stats are impressive. He’s 20-7 with 209 strikeouts in 156 innings.

He’s also trying to develop another pitch, a change-up, to complement his arsenal. Actually, he’s learning to throw it again after it mysteriously disappeared last spring.

“I had it as a freshman, but I didn’t use it much last year,” he said. “It’s working real well and my fastball is starting to move. I don’t throw the fastball very hard, but it tails when I’m throwing it well.”