Rarest of freshman triumphs: Two starts, two no-hitters
Soon after Taylore Baker threw consecutive no-hitters in his first two varsity starts in 2008, the Canton, Ohio, teen and his father began researching who else had ever accomplished the feat.
They started by looking through the Ohio state record books. They also searched the Internet for a match elsewhere in the country.
They found no one. Until now.
Shoreham-Wading River freshman Brian Morrell became the first pitcher in school history to ever begin his career as a varsity starter by throwing back-to-back no-hitters. In fact, no underclassman in school history had ever thrown consecutive no-hitters.
“No way, definitely not,” said Shoreham-Wading River baseball coach Sal Mignano, who has guided the program since its first year of varsity ball in 1977. “It’s incredible.”
See also: Morrell pitches second straight no-hitter
At least six other varsity pitchers across the country threw no-hitters in their first varsity start this season, including Carle Place junior Mike Delio, who struck out all 21 batters in a perfect game April 1. None of the six — a list of athletes from New Jersey to Ohio to Oklahoma — repeated the feat in their second varsity start.
See also: SWR freshman throws no-hitter in first start
Matt Crohan recorded back-to-back no-hitters as a senior for Riverhead in his first two starts last season, but he already had two years of varsity experience by that point. Half Hollow Hills East graduate Stephen Woods is the only other Suffolk County pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters the past two seasons.
At Shoreham-Wading River, only two other varsity pitchers have ever hurled multiple no-hitters in their careers, Mignano said. Southpaw Chip Pidgeon threw consecutive no-hitters in 1997, a feat he accomplished against Connetquot as a senior, according to Newsday.
It’s the other Wildcats pitcher to throw two career no-hitters whose history Morrell follows most closely: Major League catcher Keith Osik. Morrell said a story Tyler Osik, Keith’s son and the Wildcats’ current third baseman, once told him about his dad’s two no-hitters has been a major motivator for him. Osik’s first no-hitter was a perfect game against Westhampton Beach on April 7, 1986. Then, on May 14, 1987, he came within one pitch of a perfect game when he walked the next-to-last batter on a full count with two out in the seventh inning against Rocky Point, according to Newsday. Osik, who was in attendance for both of Morrell’s no-hitters, would go on to pitch 27 scoreless innings his senior postseason en route to the Wildcats’ only state championship.
On the eve of his first career start April 11, Morrell approached Tyler Osik at practice and said, “I think I’m going to pitch a no-hitter tomorrow.”
It wasn’t until the fifth inning of the 3-0 win over Mount Sinai that the third baseman looked up at the scoreboard that Osik said he realized his teammate was “actually … throwing a no-hitter.”
That’s two innings earlier than Morrell’s catcher, Jack Massa, realized it. He said it wasn’t until he heard whispers from the crowd sitting behind home plate in the seventh and final inning that he realized he was catching history.
Mignano said he recognized something special much earlier in the game when, in the third inning, he looked at assistant coach Kevin Willi and they nodded to each other as if to acknowledge the potential no-hitter, but not to jinx it. Of course, in the spirit of great baseball superstitions, not a word was spoken of either no-hitter until after the final pitches were thrown.
“If one of the players said a word, I would have sent them to the bus,” Mignano said with a laugh.
It was Morrell who made the most challenging play in the field to keep the Mustangs from getting a hit in the first start. In the fifth inning, Mount Sinai leadoff hitter Jason Conti hit a sharp grounder back up the middle. The ball deflected off Morrell’s glove and rolled behind the mound. The pitcher raced back in pursuit, scooped up the ball and fired a strike to first to get the out.
“Really, I don’t know how I did that,” Morrell said after the game, in which he walked just one batter. “I just tried to get a piece of my glove on it. Then it just happened.”
Miller Place’s first at-bat of the second game, a 4-0 win Saturday, easily could have been a hit if not for Osik’s nifty bare-handed pickup and throw from a Joe Riso ground ball.
Morrell then struck out the side in the second inning to pitch himself out of a jam with two runners in scoring position after a pair of walks. He’d finish the game with six walks. In the third inning, he made a big fielding play on a bunt in front of home plate.
The freshman threw a total of 189 pitches in the two starts, both of which were played on the road, striking out 17 batters. Leading with his fastball and using his changeup sparingly, his slider served as his out pitch.
“He has a nasty slider,” Mignano said. “He throws hard for a ninth-grader, not necessarily for a varsity kid. He’s not in the 90s, but with that slider he’s very difficult to hit.”
In 19 innings this season, the freshman — who Mignano said hadn’t secured his spot as the team’s third starter until after he pitched five shutout innings of relief against John Glenn April 1 — has given up just two hits and no runs. He’s also been a standout at the plate, batting above .400 while hitting in the No. 2 spot in the lineup and playing shortstop when not pitching.
Mignano said he’s always worried about the hype surrounding any pitcher after throwing a no-hitter — let alone a freshman hurling two in a row — but he likes the way the 15-year-old has carried himself.
“He’s having fun with it,” the coach said. “That’s really the best way to go about it.”
Morrell, a lifelong Wading River resident, said that when he returned to school Monday he was bombarded with congratulations from classmates and teachers.
“It was wild,” he said after practice that afternoon. “To have all the staff going up to me and telling me how proud they are, it’s just amazing.”
Even with his newfound success, Morrell said he’s not going to change who he is.
“I have to keep my composure out there,” he said. “I have to go into my next game knowing I can give up a hit and not break down mentally.”
His attitude isn’t the only thing Morrell doesn’t want to change moving forward. In the two no-hitters he was careful to make sure he wore much of the same clothing.
“I wore the same pants, shirt, shoes, even the same underwear,” he said. “My mom told me to do that.”
Morrell says his family has been a great support system. And he’s not the only phenom in the family. His sister Taylor played varsity volleyball as a 12-year-old seventh grader this past fall. She was at a tournament in Maryland with their mom this weekend when they received the call from Brian about his second no-hitter.
“My mom was in tears,” he said.
That’s understandable when you know just how rare it is for any high school pitcher to throw two consecutive no-hitters. And to find anyone who’s thrown more than two straight you have to look beyond the halls of Shoreham-Wading River, out of Suffolk County and into the state and national record books.
Only two public school pitchers in New York State history have ever thrown three consecutive no-hitters: James Balin of Levittown’s Division High School in 1996 and Charlie Peltz of Queensbury High School near Lake George last year, according to The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, N.Y. Both pitchers recorded the accomplishment, which Morrell will attempt to match at home against Westhampton Beach today, April 24, in their senior seasons and not in their first varsity starts.
While the New York State Public High School Athletic Association baseball record book doesn’t note whether no-hitters occurred consecutively, it does list the most no-hitters thrown in a varsity season. The record of four was set by Billy Rouse of Rush-Henrietta High School near Rochester in 1960 and matched by Balin in 1996. Only eight New York State public school pitchers have thrown more than two no-hitters in a season, none from Suffolk County, according to the record book.
The National Federation of State High School Associations baseball record book lists just 11 pitchers nationally who have ever thrown more than five no-hitters in a season, including Chris Taranto of Biloxi, Miss., who set a national standard with six consecutive no-hitters in his senior season at Notre Dame High School in 1961 and finished with a second national record by hurling nine no-hitters that season.
Taylore Baker, who was a sophomore at Canton Central Catholic High School in Ohio when he threw consecutive no-hitters in his first two varsity starts, said this week that he has yet to throw his third. Now a senior at Malone University in his hometown, he said he hopes to get drafted by a big league club this spring.
“I just read about [Morrell],” Baker said after being contacted by a reporter Monday. “That’s really unbelievable for a freshman. It’s so hard to throw a no-hitter, period.”
It’s not the pursuit of a third no-hitter or hearing his name called at a future MLB draft that Morrell is focused on right now. Instead, he has his eyes set on something else that Baker accomplished his first varsity season: winning a state title.
“In both of the no-hitters all I was trying to do was help my team win,” Morrell said. “That was my goal coming into my freshman year. If I can do that, I think that can be a key to helping us win states. That’s what we want to do. This team is loaded with great players and I think we can do it.”