The most important pitch that Free State High junior Hunter Gudde ever learned to throw is the one he never uses anymore.

Gudde didn’t throw a single knuckle curveball en route to the two-hit shutout he threw Thursday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark, where the Firebirds advanced to the 6A state semifinals with a 4-0 victory against Haysville Campus. The pitch no longer was in his reportoire, but the lessons it taught him were evident throughout his masterpiece, his first complete game of the season, one that improved his record to 9-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.84.

Gudde estimated he was 9 years old when he started throwing the pitch that can be thrown by either pressing the top knuckle of the index finger against the ball, or driving the index fingernail either into the ball or into a seam. He threw it like a fastball, hence eliminating the risky strain that a curveball puts on a young arm. The feedback he received from the hitters when he threw them offbalance with the offspeed pitch that follows a path similar to a slider, moving down a little and away from right-handed hitters a lot, encouraged him to become a pitcher at an age when most are merely throwers.

Free State pitcher junior Hunter Gudde delivers against Haysville Campus during the Class 6A baseball tournament on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at Hoglund Ballpark.

Since about the age of 12, generally considered the earliest any young athlete should even think about snapping curveballs, Gudde said he picked up a traditional curve, with more north-south movement than the knuckle-curve. The command he has on his curve has played a huge part in him killing hitters softly with such remarkable consistency. “His velocity is in the low 80’s,” Free State coach Mike Hill said. “It goes back to that old adage hitting is timing. Therefore pitching is the disruption of timing. What he can do is throw a breaking ball anytime he wants strikes. So hitters really can’t get comfortable and he’s got a changeup, too.”

Gudde relied on that pitch a great deal Thursday. He estimated he threw 10 of them and in some games throws, “one or two.”

Gudde struck out five and walked one, just his sixth walk of the year.

Catchers wear what are known as the “tools of ignorance,” meaning it’s a position that involves a ton of grunt work and puts the body through pain in so many ways. Firebirds catcher Jonathan Saathoff appreciates how Gudde relieves so much of that stress.

“He always stays low, always hits my spots and makes it easy on my knees,” Saathoff said.

Gudde also works fast, keeping Saathoff in a crouch for shorter periods of time.

“It puts the hitters off balance,” Gudde said of his pace. “Working fast hurts their timing and keeps me in rhythm.”

And it keeps the defense alert.

“His demeanor’s terrific: ‘Give me the ball and let me go.’ … There’s nothing worse than a guy walking around the mound for two hours,” Hill said. “Defenders don’t want to play behind that. I think part of our effectivenesss defensively today was because of Hunter’s good rhythm.”

Gudde and his fielders have a mutually beneficial relationship.

“They’re the answer to my success this year,” Gudde said. “It’s all them, I think. That’s what all the hype I get is really about. It’s because of them. All I do is put the ball in play and they make all the plays.”

Gudde doesn’t throw as hard as many high school pitchers, but he has an advantage in that he never had to make that transition from thrower to pitcher.

“When I was little I pitched like I do now,” Gudde said. “Pound the zone and throw a good breaking ball.”

His is a terrific road map to follow for parents of youth baseball players. Start with a safe breaking ball. Take your index fingernail, press it into the seam of the baseball and throw it with the same arm and hand mechanics as a fastball. Mix it with fastballs, and when it’s safe to graduate to a genuine bender, pick up a changeup along the way and presto! Make your teammates happy every time you take the mound. The bigger the stage, the happier you make them.