Unquestioned ace
Justin Perreault was warming up in left field, preparing for his first varsity start at Homewood High School. The junior entered the 2018 season as the de facto ace on the Patriots pitching staff, despite having never played a varsity game.
While making his warm-up tosses, pitching coach Keith Brown approached Perreault and delivered a prophetic message.
“You do realize you have a chance to be one of the best pitchers in the history of Homewood High School?” Brown asked, somewhat rhetorically.
Perreault responded calmly, “I got this.”
Even though he answered with confidence, Perreault admitted his hands became sweaty quickly. And his first inning on the mound that February afternoon was less than stellar.
“He was trying to throw the ball through the backstop,” Brown recalled. “I went out there and was like, ‘Dude, just relax and let your arm work.’”
It’s safe to say the nerves didn’t last long. Perreault went on to have a great junior season, posting a 7-2 record with a 2.44 earned run average, helping lead the Patriots to the quarterfinals of the Class 6A playoffs.
But in his quarterfinal start against Cullman, he learned a valuable lesson after struggling in the first game of the series, one that saw the Bearcats win in two games. Perreault agreed with Brown that the moment might have been a little too big for him.
“Things don’t always go your way,” said Perreault. “There was a ton of people there, I saw four TV cameras behind the plate. That wasn’t good.”
But Perreault walked off the mound that evening with a renewed sense of purpose and valuable experience gained.
He entered 2019 prepared to make the most of his senior season, and he has done just that. In his opening start Feb. 18, he didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.
He even avenged the Cullman loss, hurling a complete game against the Cats on Feb. 26 and allowing just three hits and one run to go with nine strikeouts.
The key for him thus far has been his belief in his ability, which is at an all-time high.
“Last season, I kind of stayed the same,” he said, “but this season, I’m growing in confidence a lot.”
Perreault estimates that he stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 135 pounds, hardly the measurables of most ace hurlers with a fastball that clocks in the upper-80 miles per hour range.
“If you look at him, he’s very unassuming,” Brown said. “He’s little, but it doesn’t matter. He’s got a huge heart and big guts, and he loves to get after folks.”
Brown lauded Perreault’s ability to locate his fastball as the key to his success. A well-located fastball is a pitcher’s best friend and opens the door to changeups and breaking balls.
“He can throw the fastball down and away as well as anybody I’ve ever coached,” Brown said.
Before the season, Homewood head coach Lee Hall called Perreault “pound for pound” the best pitcher in the state. Through early April, Perreault had yet to take a loss with an ERA hovering around 1.00.
If the Patriots are to duplicate last season’s success, they will need Perreault to continue embracing his ace role and continue to get increased contributions from the likes of Sloan Squires, John Hale and Charlie Goode, who have started multiple games as well.
Perreault believes in his guys.
“I think we have complete trust in each other,” Perreault said.