Freshman Pitches No-Hitter For Skippers

There are few things more dramatic in baseball than a no-hitter...especially when a freshman is doing the pitching. Freshman Dom Grillo led the Skippers baseball team to a 14-0, blanking the Middletown Islanders on their home field.

The Skippers came off the bench by rifling off four runs in the top of the first and three more in the second. As the batters racked up the runs, Grillo continued to keep the Islanders swinging at air.

The Islanders pitching settled down and pitched back-to-back shutout innings in the third and fourth, but Grillo added another zero to his run total in the bottom of the fourth to carry his no-hitter through four innings.

The bottom of the fourth was a tough one for the Islanders. After loading the bases, and walking home a run, NK's bats heated up once again as a single by Jared Habershaw drove in another run, making it 9-0 with two outs and the bases still juiced.  he game was blown open by NK Junior Alex Marzilli, who hit a grand slam to make it a 13-0 game.  NK added one more in the fourth before the inning ended.  

With the score at 14-0, Grillo came out for the bottom of the fifth with his no-hitter still intact. He continued to shut down Middletown, getting three in a row to end the inning and end the game on a count of the run rule.  

"I was very impressed with Dom and the fact that we were able to get that big lead early," said NK head coach Kevin Gormley. "You know all we want our pitchers to do is pound the zone and not walk people. He did a great job of that all day. I know he had two walks but it was still so impressive. Our defense came up big for him as they have all year for our team, and playing that kind of defense and scoring those runs, you know, we gave the kid a chance."

According to Grillo, he was unaware of his no-hitter until the final inning.

"I didn't realize it until the last inning when my third baseman told me," said Grillo. "I was a little nervous about it, but I just tried to dial in."

The North Kingstown Varsity Boys Baseball Team remains undefeated at (7-0) overall and (5-0) in Division I South.  They will play again Tuesday when they host East Greenwich at Lischio Field, in a battle for control of first place in the division.  First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.

The Middletown Islanders  now stand at (3-3) overall and (3-2) in the Division. Head coach Eric Godin and his squad will try to regroup when the travel to Tiverton on Tuesday to take on the Tigers. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 11 a.m.