Meet the 300-Pound Pitcher Who Brings the Heat -Falls Short vs. Former Southridge Stars

Three hundred. It’s the number of wins needed to guarantee a pitcher enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. It’s definitely not the number of pounds you expect a pitcher to be.

St. Thomas pitcher Ben Ancheff defies that expectation.

Ancheff -- all six-foot-two, 300 pounds of him -- took center stage last weekend when he took the mound as the starting pitcher in his team’s NAIA title game against Lewis-Clark State. Ancheff's effort was not enough for St. Thomas, which lost, 10-7.

His squad jumped out to a 5-0 lead and Ancheff was brilliant, tossing one-run ball over four-and-a-third innings. It was his longest outing of the year after returning from Tommy John surgery in March.

The Jackson brothers, Ty and Bryce, of Kennewick (former Southridge Suns and WSU standouts) helped lead the comeback against St. Thomas to win the 17th Small College World Series title for LC-State.

Not a bad performance for a guy who - surprise! -- was born prematurely.

Get a look at Ancheff for yourself.