Mihir Patel, left, and Dhillon Choudhri combined on a no-hitter for the Diamond Jacks 16U Gold team.
It’s been a heck of a week for Diamond Jacks pitching as the Super 16 World Series and Super 13 World Series headed into the playoffs on Friday morning.
The Diamond Jacks Super 13U has tossed a pair of no-hitters this week while the Super 16U Gold team threw a no-no on Wednesday.
Mihir Patel and Dhillon Choudhri combined to no-hit the D1 Colts, 4-0, in a critical Super 16 World Series pool play game.
“Mihir and Dhillon were great,” said Diamond Jacks Gold 16U coach Chris Brown. “They just went to work.”
Patel did the heavy lifting, working the first 4.2 innings, striking out five and walking five while throwing 85 mostly effective pitches. Choudhri, however, gets major props for his dramatic relief effort.
Choudhri entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning after walks got Patel in a pickle. Choudhri got the only batter he faced in the fifth looking at a 3-2 fastball to end the threat. He then retired the Colts in the sixth around a walk to seal the no-hitter.
Choudhri worked 1.1 innings, struck out two and walked one, throwing 23 pitches.
The Diamond Jacks 16U Gold had jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Hawkins Sutter’s two-run single. The team extended the lead to 4-0 in its last at bat on Mike Fattore’s RBI double and an RBI single by Ceasar Camacho. Dom Yarson had started the rally with a double.
“The guys got some timely hits to give our pitchers some breathing room,” said Brown.
Yadi Mateo and Tony DeNora combined to no-hit the Mid-Atlantic Hurricanes, 8-0, on Wednesday. Mateo got the start and worked five no-hit innings, striking out nine and walking one in a dominating performance. DeNora came in and pitched a clean sixth inning, striking out one, to close out the no-hitter.
Mateo and DeNora’s teammate, Zach Fronio had set the standard earlier in the week when he threw a four-inning no-hitter in a 10-0 victory over the NJ Rising Rebels on Monday. Fronio struck out three and walked two in yet another impressive performance by a Diamond Jacks pitcher.