5th no-hit bid falls short
CLEARWATER (AP) – A Florida high school pitcher came up short in his bid to throw a fifth straight no-hit game.
Mitchell High School ace Patrick Schuster had put together a string of four no-hitters going into Tuesday’s district tournament game, and had gotten through the first two innings before allowing a double to Gaither High’s Drew Doty in Clearwater.
Schuster captured the state of Florida record when he turned in his fourth straight no-hitter last week at his home field in New Port Richey, northwest of Tampa. The national record for consecutive no-hitters by a high school pitcher is six.
The lanky left-hander escaped the first inning after walking two, hitting a batter and allowing an unearned run after his defense committed two errors behind him. Schuster set Gaither High down in order in the second inning before hitting the leadoff batter in the third. Doty followed with a double over the right-fielder’s head on an 0-1 count.
He barely reacted after giving up the hit, walking around the mound once before getting back on the rubber as a standing-room only crowd of more than 1,000 applauded.
The last time Schuster, 18, surrendered a hit was March 24.
In his next turn at bat, Schuster hit an RBI single to give his team a 3-2 lead.
Going into Tuesday’s district tournament game, Schuster had given up just nine hits in 55 innings this season, and was 8-0 with 110 strikeouts while helping his team to a 23-3 mark. He had 60 strikeouts in the four-game no-hit streak, which began April 3.