Tritch tosses no-hitter for Mayer in win over Winsted

WINSTED – Blake Tritch put on a show for the Mayer Blazers in their matchup with the Winsted Wildcats. Coming off a tough loss to New Germany

over the weekend, Tritch gave the Blazers just what they needed and more.

Dominant on the mound all game long, he finished off a no-hitter for the Blazers in an 11-0 win for Mayer in seven innings Tuesday night.

It took Tritch just 97 pitches for him to accomplish his nohitter. For the game, he struck out 17 batters. His only blemishes were one hit batter, one walk, and a runner reaching on a dropped third strike. Tritch retired the first 14 batters of the game in a row including striking out 10 in a row during that stretch.

It was the first no-hitter for a Mayer Blazers’ pitcher since Bill Stein did in 1967.

After the offense got off to a slow start having just one base runner in the first three innings, Mayer got things going in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Caden Robbins cleared them with a double to put the Blazers up 3-0. Andrew Betcher would add an RBI single and after an error kept the inning alive, Mayer would add three more runs to take a 7-0 lead over Winsted.

The Wildcats got their first base runner of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Andrew Sparlin reached on a dropped third strike. They would have just two baserunners the rest of the way as they were unable to get the offense going and held without a hit.

Leighton Buhr took the loss on the mound despite getting off to a good start. Buhr retired the first six batters of the game but struggled in the fourth inning as Mayer got the bats going. He went four innings allowing seven runs off five hits while striking out three and walking three. Sparlin and Bennett Paulson also saw time on the mound for the Wildcats.

For Mayer, Tritch also had a two-hit day and scored two runs to go along with his no-hitter. Andrew Betcher added two hits in his return to the team while Henry Bushey scored a pair of runs.

It was an important win for the Blazers coming off a loss to New Germany. The win keeps them in the thick of things in the race for the Crow River Valley League North division title.

Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter – @Kovar_HJSports