When Cherokee sophomore Jarrad Delarso stepped onto the mound for his first varsity baseball appearance at home in the sixth inning of April 15’s game against Shawnee, he knew he was walking into a tight, 1–0 game, and his team was relying on him to get the finals six outs to close out the win.
However, what he didn’t know was he needed six outs to close out the Chiefs’ first no-hitter since 2009.
“I actually had no idea,” he said.
Delarso came through for Cherokee, keeping Shawnee hitless and stranding a pair of baserunners to close out the no-hitter and give Cherokee the 1–0 victory.
After finding out about the achievement, Delarso said it was awesome to be a part of the no-hitter in his first home appearance. While the atmosphere was different from what Delarso experienced in the past, he hasn’t experienced any nerves on the mound.
“Pitching is the same throughout,” he said. “You always want to attack the hitters.”
Delarso came into the no-hitter after starting pitcher Quinn Taylor kept Shawnee’s bats quiet for the first five innings. Taylor allowed four walks, but managed to get out of a pair of jams early in the game, striking out six hitters.
The key for Taylor was being able to keep hitters off balance with four different pitches. Taylor mixed up his four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, curveball and changeup to keep Shawnee at bay.
Taylor feels he has improved greatly from his first appearance of the season during a spring break trip to South Carolina, where he struggled in two innings against Marist (Ill.) High School.
“In my last start in Myrtle Beach, I shied away from (the two-seam fastball) and my changeup,” he said. “I threw just a fastball and curveball and didn’t have much success. I said to myself I was going to go out, not be afraid and use it all.”
The downside of the four walks was Taylor’s pitch count escalated early. After Taylor threw 72 pitches in the first four innings, head coach Marc Petragnani decided the fifth inning would be his last one, regardless of whether the no-hitter was still intact.
“We talked before the fifth inning that it was going to be his last inning regardless,” Petragnani said. “Most people didn’t know there was a no-hitter going, so it wasn’t even a debate. It was too early in the season to pitch him any further than that.”
Even though Delarso and most of the team didn’t realize a no-hitter was still going, Taylor said he knew all along. However, he was more concerned about his team going for the win than trying to complete the game himself.
“We were only up 1–0 and I had 94 pitches. I just wanted to see us get the W,” Taylor said. “I’m glad (Jarrad) got that for me.”
Petragnani felt the no-hitter was a testament to Cherokee’s strong pitching staff. He said the team’s pitching has been key in the Chiefs’ early season wins.
“We have a deep staff,” he said. “We had a few guys returning and a couple new guys in Nick Snyder and Jarrad who have added to it. They have to keep us in games right now because our offense isn’t where it needs to be.”
