PLUMSTEADVILLE, PA — We’ve seen our fair share of no-hitters so far this season.
On Thursday, Beau Lyren, Reid Darnall, and their Delco Christian teammates added to that tally. Lyren started and pitched six hitless innings. Darnall closed out the 12-2 victory over Plumstead Christian in already the fourth no-hitter this county has seen.
Strath Haven threw back-to-back no-hitters with Rob Mattai/Caden Shuster and Luke D’Ancona/Jasper Hals while Jack Redding went all seven on his own.
The Knights took a lot of pressure off their pitching staff early, getting out to a 5-0 lead. Sam Dixon led off the top of the second inning with a double. Darnall doubled as well with one out, bringing home Dixon with the opening run.
Darnall advanced to third on a Justin Ma single and scored on a passed ball. Porter Roberts then singled home Ma to make it 3-0. Roberts put some pressure on the Plumstead defense, stealing second and advancing to third. He would eventually score on a Nathan Burd single.
Dixon was active again in the third. He singled with one out, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on an error, giving Delco Christian a commanding 5-0 lead.
Usually, when you hear no-hitter, you think of a shutout. Plumstead Christian was actually able to scratch across a couple in this contest. In the bottom of the fourth, a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch gave them their only runs of the day.
The deficit only grew from there for Plumstead. Dixon reached on an error in the fifth and managed to score on yet another error while he was stealing third.
With a 6-2 lead, Delco Christian delivered the knockout blow in the sixth. Matteo DeBellis led off with a double, stole third, and came home on a sac fly from Josiah Lyren. Dixon continued his huge day, hitting a two-run home run that made it 9-2.
DeBellis, Ma, and Roberts added RBI hits in the seventh, capping off a great day for both the Knights’ hitting and pitching.
Starter Beau Lyren finished the day with six innings pitched, two unearned runs, and nine strikeouts. Darnall struck out two in the seventh, finishing the dominant performance.
Delco Christian moves to 4-5 and 3-0 in the Bicentennial – Presidents league. They go back on the road and play Chichester on Friday if the weather allows it.