O'Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Of The Week: Jake Venneman, Rawlings Stealth 13U baseball

One of the rarest feats in all of sports is a pitcher tossing a perfect game.

In the history of our city’s beloved St. Louis Cardinals, no one who’s ever worn that uniform has done it.

In fact, in the near 150-year history of Major League Baseball, only 20 men that have ever played the game, know what it’s like to be so perfect on the mound for an entire game, that not one batter he faced was able to reach base against him.

Only 20 men that have ever lived have ever done it.

Well, thanks to Fort Zumwalt North middle schooler and this week’s O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Jake Venneman, who pitched a perfect game for the Rawlings Stealth 13U team last Sunday, you can now make that 20 men and one incredibly talented eighth-grader-to-be from O’Fallon, MO.

“It was so cool, I was so excited,” Venneman said, after describing the scene on the field after he got the last out. “But I have to really credit my outfielders. They made three or four unbelievable catches. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Venneman’s effort came against the Rawlings Cardinals, in the 2011 Rawlings Baseball Club Championships Tournament at the Kirkwood Athletic Association on June 12.

That day, Venneman’s Stealth team won 12-0, and had several players play very well.

But the thing the people who were there to see it will remember most, is the sensational pitching job done by a kid who less than a month ago, was just finishing up seventh grade.

“I’ve been pitching since I was eight, and I’ve had a few no-hitters before,” Venneman said. “I would’ve never thought I could get a perfect game.”

Well he did. And he did it in magnificent fashion.

According to family friend Donna Henderson, who contacted O’Fallon Patch and offered a tip about Jake’s big day, Venneman pitched five innings against the Cardinals, and got 13 fly-ball outs, one ground-ball out and struck one batter out.

Fifteen up, fifteen down for the incredible Jake Venneman, and according to reports, he did it with style and ease.

“Well, it wasn’t that easy,” Venneman said. “They hit a couple of balls that I thought ‘Oh my gosh, that’s gonna be a hit.’ But somehow my outfielders kept making all the catches.”

The final inning was particularly exciting for everyone watching.

The game was already in hand. The Stealth were going to win no matter what.

The only question left was whether or not Jake would get his perfect game, and everyone knew it.

Especially the hard-throwing lefthander on the mound, who only found out an inning earlier that he even a perfect game going, when his dad Keith told him about it, and encouraged him to see it through.

“He just came over and said, ‘Hey buddy, you’re pitching great. You’ve got a perfect game going. Keep it up,’” Venneman said. “That’s when I said, I’m gonna get these guys out.”

And boy did he ever, concluding with a final fly ball to centerfield that was easily caught, which set off a wild celebration on the field for Venneman and his Stealth teammates.

“The whole team came around me, and we all hugged, and jumped up and down,” Venneman said. “It was awesome. And I was like, I can’t believe I just pitched a perfect game.”

Jake said his ultimate goal is to play college baseball like his dad Keith did at Lindenwood in the early '90s.

But he’s most excited about getting to high school in the fall of 2012, and possibly pitching for the freshman team when he’s eligible to do so in spring 2013.

In fact, he’s already discussed it with fellow youth league stars and North Middle School classmates Connor Sangrillas, Malik Holtz and Nick Bohannon, all of whom hope to be on the Panthers freshman squad in two years.

“We’re really looking forward to playing for the Panthers when we get to high school,” Venneman said. “Those are my good friends, and it’ll be so fun to be all on the same team.”

For Panther baseball fans that arrangement probably sounds just perfect.

Just like Jake Venneman, the O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete of the Week.