This record has to hurt. At least a little bit.
A sophomore baseball player in Oklahoma recently set a national record that would have made early 20th-century major leaguer Hughie Jennings proud.
Inola (Okla.) baseball player Jordan Spurlock has been hit by a pitch to reach first base 30 times this season. 30 times! As the Tulsa World reports, that number is believed to be a national record.
Per the National High School Sports Record Book, the previous record of 29 was shared by Kenny Redding of Choctaw (Okla.) in 1965 and Nick LaCross of Sault Area (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) in 2015.
Inola coach Chad Cook told the Tulsa World that he is submitting the paperwork to validate Spurlock’s record.
Spurlock tied and broke the record Tuesday when he was hit leading off both games of a doubleheader at Catoosa.
“You could tell my family and coaches and teammates were super excited, so that made it more exciting for me,” Spurlock told the World.
According to Cook, Spurlock also tied the national single-game record by getting hit four times against Will Rogers on April 10. Add that to the 24 times he was pelted with a pitch last season, and Spurlock is only 11 away from the national career record of 65 held by Lucas Weitzel of Oak Hall (Gainesville, Fla.) from 2009 through 2012. And Spurlock still has two seasons to go!
While Spurlock is only hitting .217, per the World, his 30 HBPs and nine walks make his on-base percentage jump to .520. He also leads the Longhorns with 22 runs.
“He’s not a kid that leans into pitches,” Cook told the World. “He’s not doing anything illegal, but he will toe the line (of the batter’s box) and push the limit. He’s our leadoff hitter and he’s doing what he can to get things started.”
Players in baseball dugouts have a tendency to holler phrases like “Wear it, kid!” or “Don’t rub it!” when a teammate is hit by a pitch. If that is the case at Inola, nobody in the history of American high school baseball has heard those baseball idioms more than Jordan Spurlock.
