Photos by Melissa Sones

Lane Powledge’s elbow issues of 2020 were left in 2020.

Through last week’s baseball games, the De Leon senior left-handed pitcher was 5-1 with a 1.75 earned run average. He also is the Big Country leader with 71 strikeouts in 28 innings.

“This year he’s off to an all-state start,” De Leon head coach Ricky Barrett said. “We’re a different team when he’s on the mound. He’s pitching lights out. He’s ready to go all the time.”

After going 9-2 with a 1.15 ERA as a sophomore in 2019, Powledge was just starting his pitching comeback from an elbow injury in mid-March last year. He threw 42 strikes in 48 pitches in his first appearance of 2020, and followed with a five-inning one-hitter to beat Santo.