Woodland High School alumnus Cooper Hjerpe throws 4 perfect innings during MLB debut

Woodland High School alumnus and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Cooper Hjerpe made his Major League Baseball debut over the weekend, throwing four perfect innings in relief and picking up his first-ever win over the Colorado Rockies. Hjerpe (1-0), a 6-foot-3, 200-pound lefty and 2019 Woodland High School graduate, lit up the vaunted Coors Field mound on Sunday on his way to an incredible debut stat line that included a perfect 12 batters up, 12 batters out and 6 total strikeouts on 54 total pitches, with 41 of them for strikes. The Cardinals would hang on to win 10-8. Hjerpe was just the third pitcher with a line like his in the history of the sport. According to MLB stats guru Sarah Langs, Hjerpe had the third-longest outing with no baserunners allowed in an MLB pitching debut since at least 1900. After graduating from WHS in 2019, Hjerpe attended Oregon State University for three seasons. Following a breakout sophomore year in 2021, Hjerpe went on to excel during his junior year, winning the College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year award, the Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Year award, first-team All-American selections to the NCBWA, ABCA, Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, ABCA All-Region, and All-Pac-12 teams, and a finalist for the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser awards. That season caught the eye of the Cardinals organization, who selected him with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft. Former WHS baseball manager Joe Whitehead, who coached Hjerpe during his historic junior and senior seasons at the school, attended the game alongside current WHS baseball assistant coaches Scott Wedding and Jackson Tsutsui. During his time at WHS, Hjerpe posted monster stat lines and performances, including setting the record for consecutive no-hitters with three and a perfect game. Duirng his junior year, he went 8-0 with a .78 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 53.2 innings before posting a senior year stat line of 5-1, with a 1.43 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched. 'He really flashed his junior and senior years. Those two seasons were some of the most remarkable things I have had the chance to witness as head coach,' Whitehead said. 'It was so cool to coach a talent like that, and overall, he was a great kid. Just a brainiac in the classroom that truly shows what hard work, grit, and dedication get you.' Whitehead mentioned he initially received an alert from Hjerpe's father late Saturday night that his son would be called up for Sunday's game. Whitehead, along with Wedding and Tsutsui, had a long-term agreement that whenever Hjerpe was called up for his debut, they'd make the game no-questions-asked. While Hjerpe wasn't scheduled to start the game on Sunday, there was enough information to go on to take the calculated risk to fly out to Colorado in hopes of seeing him take the mound. 'It was very surreal being at the airport at 3 a.m. on Sunday and having us all there together,' Whitehead recalled. 'We had talked about this for years. We were more anxious to get to the field and see him. When we first got there, we saw him in the bullpen doing what I'd assume is his normal game-day routine. From there we just let him do his thing and focus. I'm sure that moment was huge, so the last thing we wanted to do was take away from that experience.' After Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Leahy struggled in the opening innings, allowing 5 runs, Hjerpe got the call and began to warm up before making his debut in the bottom of the fourth. 'Watching him run in from the bullpen was surreal,' Whitehead said. 'We all had our phones out and recorded as much as we could. I didn't have any words, and I couldn't imagine how his parents felt in that moment. After that first inning, I put my phone away and really soaked it all in.' Hjerpe would go on to pitch four perfect innings before leaving the game following the seventh inning with a 7-5 lead. It hasn't always been smooth sailing for Hjerpe, who had his rapid development stunted by an injury that kept him out all of last season. He'd work his way back up the minor league ladder to start 2026, reaching Triple-A Memphis, where he put up a tidy 0.95 ERA in five appearances before his promotion to St. Louis. 'I get goosebumps still thinking about his debut,' Whitehead said. 'You put in a lot of hard work as a coach and want your program to be successful, and you want the kids to be successful, so it was really cool hearing his mom and dad, and his dad say that we (coach Wedding and Tsutsui) are a part of this too. 'As his coaches, we are only a small puzzle piece in his experience to it all, but it truly made all that time and effort that you put in as a head coach that doesn't get seen worth it when we saw him running out from the bullpen for his debut. It was all too surreal and a dream come true. 'His long-term goal was not only to be an MLB player, but to be a successful one, and he has the hard work, determination, and mindset to be that and thrive.'