No-hitters are feats generally reserved for SportsCenter Top 10s and news updates, but fans at the San Jose Muni watching the Division I CCS championship Saturday night were treated to one by Valley Christian pitcher Cameron Stewart, who led the Warriors to a 3-1 victory over the Haybalers of San Benito.
“It’s surreal man. I’m speechless, really. It hasn’t really hit me yet," said a clearly emotional Stewart. "I was thinking about it before we went out in the seventh, and I teared up a little bit in the dug out. It’s surreal. I’ve never heard of anything like this."
The Warriors came out in the first inning with confidence. After freshman left fielder Keenan Brigman struck out, senior first baseman Bryant Park and sophomore shortstop Bryson Brigman came through with base hits. Then, senior second baseman Nick McGrew hit a double, and Park scored on an error on the left fielder as he ran forward to wind up for the throw before he realized that the ball was still on the ground. Then, senior catcher Colin Warner extended the run with a 2-RBI single. The 6-foot-9 Stewart showed that he could do it all with a base hit of his own.
After Stewart’s hit, San Benito pitcher senior Jake Cabral was done for the night, and senior pitcher Anthony Ocampo replaced him. Ocampo got out of a bases loaded jam to end the inning with out further damage. While the three runs meant the Warriors had the lead, they also brought a worry.
“When you have that type of thing happen early in the game, the fear is, ‘oh boy there’s going to be a big huge letdown,’ and that was what I was most worried about," said Valley Christian head coach John Diatte. "Are we going to get to score again? Do we need to score again? But Cameron was really good, and our defense was really good, and that put us in a good position."
The Warriors actually came out a little sloppy on the defensive end. After centerfielder Josh George grounded out to second, Stewart walked shortstop Michael Breen. Stewart kept trying to pick him off until one of his throws got away, and Breen advanced all the way to third. From there, catcher Jacob Tonascia batted him in on an RBI ground out. That run helped alleviate some of the pain and fear that the top of the first inning had dealt to the Balers. All of the scoring was done for the game, as both teams grinded it out on defense the rest of the way. Although they were unable to dent the hit column, the Haybalers remained a constant threat throughout the game.
“We thought we’d score some runs, but we ran into a kid who was on tonight - that’s the story of the game," said San Benito head coach Billy Aviles. "Throwing that no-hitter was the story of the game. They played some good defense, made some really good plays up the middle, and let that no-hitter stay alive and kept us off base."
The Balers came from behind in every one of their CCS playoff victories before the finals, and intended to do so again after falling behind 3-1. They only got on base twice after the first inning, both on walks, and both runners got to third base before the inning ended. The Balers had already gone through two difficult WCAL opponents in Archbishop Mitty and Saint Francis, and hoped to do so again. Even though they had stalwart defense after their sloppy first inning, their offense just couldn’t get it going against a hot Stewart and stingy Warrior defense.
“Throwing strikes was a big deal, not allowing guys to get on base. I know most guys aren’t going to hit a lot of my pitches, so I was kind of pitching for contact," said Stewart. "I’ve got a great defense behind me, so that was the recipe for success."
Stewart’s curveball is what got him through the night with consistency, and the defense preserved the no-hitter.
“It was the breaking pitch that got him through - it was electric," said Diatte. "And he had enough on his fastball and he was down. We also made some plays behind him. Anytime you throw a no-hitter, it’s never just the pitcher.Cameron was special tonight.”
The Warriors and Balers met twice before, with the Warriors winning both meetings. Stewart was on the mound both times, and while those experiences helped Valley, they ultimately did not have a huge impact on strategy because two key players were missing during both of those game for the Balers.
“I knew that there were two guys that they had who were playing basketball the first two times, and I think they were their three hitter (Tonascia) and their shortstop (Breen), two quality guys," said Diatte. "So I think we had some confidence going in but we knew it was going to be a different team."
This is the second year in a row that the Balers have been in the CCS championship game, as they lost to Palo Alto last year, 5-4. Meanwhile, the Warriors gave up just four runs throughout the entire CCS playoffs. That caliber of pitching and defense was key to winning the game.
Last week after San Benito defeated CCS favorite Saint Francis in the semifinals, Aviles said that if they did not give away runs, they would win the game. Ultimately, Aviles proved to be correct, because the Haybalers gave away runs in the first inning that ultimately cost them the game.
“We battled, but it was rough," said a disappointed Aviles. "Stewart was good tonight. He no-hit us. He was really tough tonight."
The Warriors used an impressive run of their own to get to the championship game.
“The last four games, in the CCS playoffs, we’ve pitched well, we’ve played amazing defense," said Diatte. "We’ve done enough offensively to get us in this position, plus we only gave up three runs in that time.”
This victory for Valley Christian is just another in a string of WCAL victories in CCS throughout all sports. In baseball, Saint Ignatius captured the D-II title earlier in the day with a 5-3 win over Aptos and regular-season champ Saint Francis was nationally ranked all season.
“Playing in our league is tough. My comment always is, you’re never as good as you actually think you are because someone can come around and knock you off," said Diatte. "But you’re also never as bad as sometimes it feels. You can lose three games in a row - and you just got beat by three really good teams. If you can put some stuff together and get some confidence than you can go on that same roll that they did.”
Of course, this game will be remembered for Stewart’s timely and clutch no-hitter. Stewart joked about his no-hitter history.
“I probably threw one in like Little League or something," said Stewart. "Actually, the second time we faced them I threw a one-hitter, so that was pretty close. I’ve thrown a lot of one- or two-hitters.”
This was the Warriors' sixth overall CCS baseball championship, their third in Division I.
