Sophomore Cam Sarallo didn’t even know he would be making the trip for Burlington Central to Monday’s Fox Valley Conference opener at Hampshire, let alone pitching in the game.
With scheduled starter Michael Person nursing a sore finger, the Rockets erred on the side of caution and were planning on using a bullpen day to get through the game.
And then? Change of plans.
“I was told last minute,” Sarallo said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be the first pitcher either. I came in and decided to do a job.”
Sarallo aced the assignment, throwing the program’s first no-hitter since Person two years ago as a freshman. Sarallo struck out seven and walked five for a 5-0 win.
Mason Rosborough hit a two-run homer and Brady Gilroy went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBIs to provide the offense for the Rockets (5-3, 1-0).
Evan Spenk walked twice for Hampshire (3-3, 0-1), but the Whip-Purs couldn’t generate any offense against Sarallo.
“Michael wasn’t quite ready to go and Cam stepped up,” Burlington Central coach Kyle Nelson said. “We were planning on throwing three or four guys but he just kept rolling.
“He did a great job and competed well for us.”
Sarallo did what pitchers rarely do and acknowledged what was going on in the fourth inning. That helped him refocus to finish what he started.
“I thought I was going to jinx myself,” Sarallo said. “I said, ‘I’m just going to go out there and try to throw a complete game no-hitter.’
“It’s a huge accomplishment for me, first conference game. I just thought I had to do a job and just went out there and did it, I guess.”
Sarallo retired 11 of the first 12 batters of the game, stranding a leadoff walk in the second inning. He issued back-to-back walks with two outs in the fourth but got a strikeout to escape the jam.
Base runners were erased in the fifth and sixth on a double play and a pickoff, respectively.
With his pitch count creeping toward 100, Sarallo confirmed he thought he would be done after a one-out walk in the seventh.
Nelson stuck with him, however, and Sarallo induced two fly outs to seal the win with 102 pitches.
“I thought it was going to get in my head in the last inning there with the pitch count,” Sarallo said. “I was keeping it in my head the whole time.
“I thought I was done after the second batter, but I kept going. I think (Nelson) showing confidence in me is going to help me, too.”
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Nelson has seen a lot through his 18 seasons with the Rockets, but Monday’s feat by Sarallo shows just how fickle the game can be.
“He didn’t even know he was coming here until we were getting ready to load up the bus,” Nelson said. “Luckily, he had both uniforms with him.
“Normally we wouldn’t want to extend him that far at this point, but we were going to let him go out there and try to get (the no-hitter). He’ll definitely be a guy in our rotation that we’re going to lean on the next couple years.”
Hampshire did have base runners, but Sarallo kept the Whip-Purs off balance by working backward with his curveball and mixing in periodic change-ups and fastballs.
“We were not making solid contact, it’s as simple as that,” Hampshire coach Frank Simoncelli said. “We got a couple guys on but we didn’t really put much pressure on them.
“He kept us off balance. We had defensive swings. There was nothing real solid. He did a great job.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
