Dakota Edwards, making his summer debut, threw the 11th no-hitter in NECBL history, leading the North Adams SteepleCats to a 1-0 win over the Sanford Mainers.Edwards used 108 pitches to complete the no-hitter, striking out six while allowing just three runners to reach base on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. It was the first time since 2011 that a NECBL pitcher had thrown an individual no-hitter, and it was the second in SteepleCats history (Nick McNully in 2007).
"Everything was working for me," Edwards told NECBL.com after the game. "I had the two and the four seamers going. The change-up was working well. The slider had great movement. All pitches were on for me tonight."
He hit Mainers leadoff hitter Nate Stepna with the first pitch of the game, and issued walks in both the second and third. However, Edwards was untouchable after that. The Bridgeport righthander induced grounders and weak pop ups, retiring the last 16 batters he faced.
Edwards needed just 12 pitches in the ninth, striking out Sanford's Shaine Hughes to close out the historic performance.
"Everyone knew going into around the seventh inning that I had a no-hitter going but to be honest with you, I didn’t really notice it until around the eighth inning," Edwards continued. "Once I did notice, I thought ‘I have to settle down. I have to keep throwing strikes and get ahead of hitters.’ Staying composed out there- not letting the emotions get to me- was key tonight."
He was coming off of an achilles tear that limited him to just four appearances this spring at Bridgeport. Entering the summer, Edwards was looking to just 'get back in the swing of things.' He did way more than that in his debut.
It was one of three no-hitters on the day, as the Nationals Max Scherzer (MLB) and Hyannis Harbor Hawks' Devin Smeltzer (Cape Cod League) both had impressive days as well.
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