A last-minute decision turned into something truly great for Douglas High's D.J. Brady.
Brady, who hadn't started a game on the mound for the Tiger baseball team since the first day of the season when he struck out eight against Lowry, tossed a no-hitter against Hug Thursday afternoon in Minden as Douglas won the opener of a Sierra League series, 20-0.
"It was a last-minute decision," Brady said. "I came up and told coach I wanted to pitch today. My arm felt good and I felt ready to go."
Douglas coach John Glover had no problem putting Brady in against the Hawks.
"That was only his second start of the year, but (Douglas' normal Thursday starter Chris) Balcom is a little banged up, so we thought it would be good to get D.J. some innings," Glover said. "He did a good job."
Brady struck out nine and walked three in recording Douglas' first no-hitter during Glover's three-year tenure as head coach.
"I might have had a couple in Little League, but this feels good," Brady said. "My fastball was working well, and I threw a lot of them. It feels good, but we have to come back and get two more wins this weekend."
Brady, a junior, also led the Tigers at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double, a triple and three RBI.
Sophomore Nate Whalin went 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and three RBI and senior Spike Agosta went 2-for-2 with a double, a triple and two RBI.
Phil Mannelly and Chris Balcom each drove in two runs and Chad Walling, Jimmy Pierce, Roman Davis, Willie Morgan and Chris Kinsley each had one RBI.
"They're doing a good job of competing," Glover said. "They beat a good Manogue team Tuesday and today they came out and took care of business. We're getting better every day and that is the goal."
Douglas broke the game open in the third inning with an enormous two-out rally.
After Walling lined out to left and Pierce flied out to right, Davis and Kyle Luken each followed with singles.
Agosta tripled to score both of them and Whalin doubled to score Agosta. Balcom reached on an error, which brought Whalin home. Morgan then singled to score Balcom.
Brady singled and Walling followed suit with a single to score Morgan and Pierce singled to score Brady.
Davis brought Walling home with a single and Mannelly then doubled to bring Pierce and Davis home. Kinsley reached third on an error on the following play, which allowed Mannelly to score and Whalin singled to score Kinsley.
Balcom then reached on an error, Morgan reached on an error and Brady tripled to score Whalin, Balcom and Morgan, which wrapped up a 15-run inning.
Douglas improved to 14-5 overall and 7-0 in Sierra League play. The Tigers are also 7-0 at home this year and will travel to Hug for a doubleheader begining at 10 a.m. Saturday.
