Purcell-Pilgrim tossed a no-hitter for the Corner Brook Barons against the St. John’s Capitals in a 2-1 loss in an extra-inning affair in the final showdown at the Atlantic Midget Baseball Qualifier Tournament Monday in St. John’s.
The talented southpaw had his Barons ahead 1-0 when he took to the hill in the top of the eighth inning knowing he was only 11 pitches away from hitting the maximum 105 pitches allowed per game during the tournament.
He ended up walking the first two guys in the home half of the eighth to give the Capitals life and was replaced by reliever Garrett Anderson.
The two baserunners moved up 90 feet into scoring position when a passed ball allowed both guys to scoot closer to home.
Anderson got the next guy to fly out to left field to score the runner from third to even the contest at one run apiece, but then a fielding error on an infield grounder allowed the winning run to score from third.
“It’s pretty astounding. It’s not very easy to throw a no-hitter. It don’t come very often,” Purcell-Pilgrim said moments after the loss.
The Barons posted a 3-1 round-robin record that included a 5-2 loss at the hands of the hard-hitting Capitals, but Purcell-Pilgrim was disappointed with the outcome because he believes his team had the Capitals on their heels for most of the game.
“We deserved to win. It’s just heartbreaking,” he said. “It was a tough one so now we’’ll have to get them at provincials.”
Barons coach Christian Wareham was impressed with his young pitcher’s composure as he battled hard and threw strikes on a consistent basis as he hit his spots almost at will.
“He pitched a hell of a game. To no-hit the Caps you got to pitch a solid game,” Wareham said. “One thing that the Capitals can do is they can hit so for him to go in there and shut them down like that I mean that’s just amazing.”
The Capitals will now represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the Atlantic Midget Baseball Championship next month in Prince Edward Island.
For now, Purcell-Pilgrim will wait patiently for another shot at the Capitals next month when bragging rights to the provincial AAA midget crown is decided.
Round-robin games
Barons 13, Paradise 2
Barons 13, Grand Falls-Windsor 1
Barons 11, Conception Bay South 1
Capitals 5, Barons 2
