Nick Wells only needed to pitch for 4 innings, but could have gone at least one more and stay under 45 pitches. He finished 4 complete innings while throwing a measly 37 pitches. Backed up by a stellar defense with great plays by Alec Wong and Peter Verheecke, Wells pitched a no-hitter.
Wong launched a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd, which put PA National on the board. The game was capped by Verheecke's 3-run home run over the center field fence and into the creek. Verheecke's homer gave Palo Alto the 10 runs needed to stop the game due to the mercy rule.
Now Palo Alto faces Hillsborough, a team that knocked them into the consolation bracket nearly 2 weeks ago in an error-plagued game. Since then, Palo Alto has won 6 in a row by a combined score of 47-11. Thanks to Wells' incredible pitching performance, all the rest of PA National's pitchers are eligible to take the mound tomorrow.
PA needs to beat Hillsborough Monday at 5:30PM to force a winner-take-all championship game in the double elimination tournament, which is scheduled to take place Tuesday. The winner of the PA National-Hillsborough matchup wins the District 52 tournament, and heads off to San Ramon for regional play beginning Thursday.
