Fulton County Ohio Media

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Panther senior Brody Waugh pitched five innings of no-hit no-run baseball against the visiting Hilltop Cadets before departing the mound with a 6-0 lead.  The big left-hander mixed in fastballs with an unhittable curve, keeping the Cadet hitters off balance.  However, the Panthers surrendered six runs in the final two innings and had to score once more to win the game 7-6. 

Once the pitching change was made, Hilltop’s bats came to life.  The Cadets scored three runs in the top of the sixth off relief pitcher Carlos DeSantos to pull within 6-3.  After the Panthers added a run in the bottom of that inning for a 7-3 lead, Hilltop struck for three more scores off Landon Griesinger and had the tying run on base before a running grab by centerfielder Joel Arroyo-Sierra ended the game and allowed all the Panther faithful to breathe again.

Leaving the game while pitching a no-hitter is unusual, but as Waugh explained, it was a personal decision that he and Head Coach Dustin Stickley agreed to.  “Monday, we play at Wauseon.  My dad was a state champion pitcher for Wauseon on that mound so it’s been a pretty big thing for me to pitch on that mound,” said Waugh. 

The main issue was pitch-count.  Waugh had thrown approximately 75 pitches in the game and was getting close to requiring more than two days rest before he pitch again.  “I hated to take him out, but he wanted to be able to pitch next week so, I had to take him out early,” explained Coach Stickley.  “He did a great job on the mound today.”

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Brody Waugh