BASEBALL: SHP's Bradford Hurls No-Hitter

Sacred Heart Prep pitcher Hogan Bradford has been searching for an answer to his season-long control issues. He found his answer in a big way in a non-league game against visiting Hillsdale on Monday afternoon.

Bradford sacrificed some of his usual speed in favor of accuracy, and the results were magnificent. The 6-foot-3 junior hurled a no-hitter to stake SHP to a 4-0 victory.

“The final out, greatest feeling in the world,” Bradford said of his emotion following Alex Tyler’s groundout to short.

Bradford’s gem was the first shutout thrown by a Gator in over a year, and was the first no-hitter by an individual in coach Gregg Franchesci’s four-year tenure. Michael Olmstead and Kevin Wilkins threw a combined no-hitter in a 9-0 win against Fremont Christian on March 19, 2008.

Bradford, who struck out five, walked three and hit one batter in his first complete game, readily admitted he had no indication such a performance was budding heading into the day, saying: “I’ve been pretty wild up to this point.” The 180-pound right-hander, who said his wingspan is about 6-foot-8, has battled with finding a consistent and effective arm motion.

Realizing that Bradford hadn’t taken the mound for SHP (13-10) since April 16, a span of more than two weeks, Franchesci figured that he would start Bradford and then give at least two other pitchers some work against Hillsdale (13-9). Franchesci even had Bo Sakowski warm up in the third inning and then kept him loose in case he needed him.

He never did.

“Once (Bradford) got through the third without giving up a hit … we were going to ride it out until he gave up a hit or got himself in trouble,” said Franchesci, who gave his lanky right-hander seven starts as a JV call-up a year ago. “You don’t want to take that away from someone.”

The SHP coach said that in addition to watching the drama build on the field, it was interesting for him to observe Bradford’s teammates in the dugout as the hitless innings kept adding up. “Everyone was very good not to jinx what was going on,” Franchesci said. “You felt the wave start to build in the sixth, and then everyone was riding on every pitch in the seventh.”

For his part, Bradford (2-4) said he felt his teammates “shunning” him in the late innings, and added, “I’d been shut off from my team.”

But soon enough, he was the toast of the Gators’ celebration.