What a difference one summer makes.
A season after struggling to find his groove with the Okotoks Dawgs, relief pitcher Matt Thornton carved out a niche as the team’s dominant closer and established a franchise record with nine saves in a terrific rebound season for the Campbell River, B.C. native.
The Western Major League Baseball (WMBL) saves record, ultimately set by Medicine Hat Mavericks closer Ryan Castadio and Regina Red Sox Nick Huff with 11 saves, was a statistic Thornton admittedly watched closely when he neared the benchmark.
“The crowd started getting involved and wanted me to get it,” said Thornton, who was frustrated to be so close to setting the new WMBL mark. “It’s a disappointment, but to tie it and to (make it) to the playoffs is all that really matters.”
Thornton said his sophomore season with the Dawgs went swimmingly due to his experience in his first season with the UBC Thunderbirds after transferring from Vancouver Island University (VIU) the previous summer.
“My year at UBC was really good, we’ve got a good pitching coach there (Shawn Corness),” Thornton said. “I developed a new pitch, the splitter, and that was probably one of the biggest reasons for my success.”
Combined with another year of physical maturity and the added velocity to his fastball, up to 93 miles per hour, Thornton had the ingredients for two reliable out pitches in 2012.
“It’s about three or four miles an hour faster than it has been,” Thornton said of his increased heat on the fastball. “It’s part mechanics and our winter workouts at UBC have been more rigorous.”
Thornton used his workouts, bullpen sessions and inter-squad games in Vancouver wisely as he was ineligible from taking the field in game action with the Thunderbirds.
“I sat out most of last year,” he said. “They have a new credit rule and I wasn’t eligible for it because I transferred, you had to have 12 credits each semester and I missed it by one credit.”
Thornton’s first summer in Okotoks in 2011 was a struggle. The 21-year-old posted a 6.55 earned run average and just one save in 11 innings pitched. The six-foot-four, 220-pound right-hander recovered from rotator cuff surgery in 2011 and was a new man on the bump for Okotoks in his sophomore go around the WMBL circuit.
“My health is first because I’ve just come off of a few injuries and just a chance to finally throw a bunch of innings together and get a chance to get out there,” he said.
Thornton was given the opportunity to close at the beginning of the season and put his stamp on the sought after role with a dream start with 11 scoreless appearances to kick off the season.
“I didn’t really think of it, I don’t look at stats very often,” Thornton said of the streak. “But as long as I’m getting saves and throwing up zeros we’re winning.”
A rough outing in Moose Jaw put the 41-day scoreless streak to an end on July 14. He would finish the season with nine saves, a 3.20 earned run average and 24 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched.
Stepping into the closer role in front of thousands of fans at Seaman Stadium was a bit of an adjustment from his view from the bullpen at UBC.
“The first couple outings were pretty nerve-wracking and I was wild,” he said. “But I just learned a new approach from (Dawgs head coach Brandon Newell) and stuck with it and ended up just getting outs.”
Fortunately, he had some experience as a short relief specialist at VIU.
“I started (closing games) in high school and my first year of university,” he said. “It’s new, but I really enjoy it. I love the pressure and I love being on the mound when you get the win.”
Thornton showed why relief pitchers need nerves of steel in Okotoks’ season-ending loss to the Medicine Hat Mavericks at Seaman Stadium. He was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the top of the 10th. However, the Dawgs lost the game 5-4 in the top of the 11th when Thornton hit the Mavs’ Grant Silva. Silva would come around and score despite Thornton not giving up a hit.
