FRACKVILLE - Frackville's Joe Nahas might have thought he was going to have a long day in Saturday's Schuylkill County Teener League Senior Division first-round playoff game.
The right-hander issued a trio of three-ball counts to the first four hitters he faced in the first inning.
"All year, it just takes me a while, one inning to warm up," Nahas said, "and then after that I find my spot and do well throughout then."
That was really the case Saturday.
Nahas settled into dominance and finished with his first career no-hitter as Frackville advanced in the winners' bracket with a 5-1 victory over Pine Grove.
Frackville (16-3) next faces against top-seeded Branch Maroon, a 5-4 winner over Hegins on Saturday, at 5:30 p.m. Monday in Llewellyn.
Pine Grove (10-9) will attempt to stay alive in the double-elimination playoffs today when it hosts Hegins at 5:30 p.m. at Stump Stadium.
"We should have hit the ball
better than that," Pine Grove head coach Emory Herb said. "He (Nahas) was throwing. He was on tonight."
Nahas was effective in several ways.
In addition to his 103-pitch gem that included 11 strikeouts and four walks, he doubled home a second-inning run. He also posted three assists from the mound and saved his own no-hitter in the fourth when he snared an infield pop-up that was falling quickly in front of the first and second basemen.
"He pitched good on JV for North Schuylkill all year," Frackville head coach John Chuma said, adding, "I took notice, as the year was going along, that he was getting faster and faster. His breaking ball was getting better and better. He's just improving as the year goes. He's peaking at the right time."
To Nahas, though, it seemed to be a day when Chuma, who called the pitches, made the right choices, including his decision to leave Nahas in the game despite the pitch count.
"I did ask him in the last inning, 'Are you OK?' " Chuma said. "He said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'I think I'm going to take you out,' and he said, 'No way am I coming out.' "
Nahas could pitch comfortably after his team gave him early support, building a 5-0 lead after two innings.
Frackville scored a pair of runs in the first inning as Nahas walked and scored on a triple by Tevin Murray. Murray then scored on the back end of a double steal.
In the second, Frackville catcher Joel Caputo opened the frame with a ground-rule double into the center-field bleachers.
His courtesy runner, Mitch Wagner, scored on a one-out bunt single by Lenny Bolinsky. Bob Wagner then lined a two-out hit that bounced past the center fielder, allowing Bolinsky to score. Nahas' double plated Wagner.
The winners finished with eight hits, including two by Major Jordon.
But after Wagner scored in the second inning, Pine Grove starting pitcher Dylan Brown retired 13 of Frackville's final 15 batters in the game.
Pine Grove broke up the shutout in the fifth. Ty Zimmerman drew a walk, stole second base and took third on a grounder back to Nahas. When the first baseman's throw to catch Zimmerman past the third-base bag rolled away, Zimmerman scored.
Nahas never wavered, retiring the final seven batters to preserve the no-hitter.
Branch Maroon 5 Hegins 4
LLEWELLYN - Chris Leshko's single scored Nolan Hoffman with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, enabling top-seeded Branch Maroon to walk off with a first-round victory over Hegins.
Branch Maroon will oppose Frackville at 5:30 p.m. Monday in Llewellyn while Hegins faces Pine Grove at 5:30 p.m. today at Stump Stadium in an elimination game.
Ryan Nettles and Austin Pritz each hit RBI singles and Storm Fekette had a two-run double for Branch Maroon.
Ryan Schaffer hit an RBI double and Willie Kimmel had an RBI single for Hegins.
DeAngelo's 4 Shenandoah 0
Logan Webber struck out eight and shut out the Shenandoah offense in DeAngelo's first-round playoff victory.
J.J. Spehrley and Chris Wollyung both had two hits for DeAngelo's, which scored two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings.
Schuylkill Haven will host DeAngelo's in a winners' bracket game Monday, while Girardville will travel to Shenandoah in a losers' bracket elimination game today.
Schuylkill Haven 11 Girardville 9
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Bryce Moyer sparked a six-run second inning with a two-run triple as Schuylkill Haven overcame an 8-1 deficit to outlast Girardville.
Devin Sullick had a triple and a double, and Brandon Mueller had a key triple as part of an eight-run second inning for Girardville. Sullick and Damian Knerr each had three of Girardville's 13 hits, while Sullick drove in three runs.
Tyler Browne had three hits for Schuylkill Haven, including an RBI single that tied the game in the fifth. Cole Handling followed with a single to put Haven ahead for good.