By Dustin Kent

Published: April 12, 2008

Sneads pitcher Pat Jones threw a 7-inning no-hitter and struck out 14 batters Friday in Sneads to lead the Pirates to a 2-0 win over North Hardin, KY., the third win of the week for the Pirates.

Jones retired the first 14 batters he faced, then retired the final seven after allowing two base runners in the fifth inning on a walk and an error.

“Pat was throwing strikes, getting ahead of guys. He didn’t fall behind hitters,” Sneads coach Mark Guerra said of Jones. “Only two guys did he have three balls on. When you’re around strike zone, good things happen.”

Guerra said he knew his pitcher was rolling due to the preponderance of ground balls that Jones was inducing.

“I think there was only one fly ball and the rest were all ground balls or strikeouts,” the coach said. “When a pitcher is throwing good, he’s getting a lot of ground balls.

“They didn’t hit it well, or get a hold of it or drive it. He just kept their batters off-balance, overpowered them with fastballs, hit his spots and took control of the game. That’s what I’ve wanted him to do all year.  I knew he was capable and during latter part of the year he’s been showing that he can dominate as a pitcher.”

Guerra said that Jones was also giving a big assist to his defense.

“Defensively, we were ready to play, but (Jones) made the game so easy for us defensively,” he said. “I attribute that to him. He’s the one who did that.

“It helps to have good defense behind you, but to go out and strike out as many as he did, that’s taking the bull by the horns and taking care of business.”

The Pirates offense didn’t generate many runs, but they didn’t have to on this night.

An RBI sacrifice fly by Taylor Edge brought Marcus Beauchamp to the plate, then Johnny Yawn singled and later scored on a double steal for the only two runs the Pirates scored.

“We struggled offensively and just didn’t hit it well,” Guerra said. “They threw a lefty who had good command of his pitches, but we weren’t really awake. We didn’t look good offensively at all.”

Yawn and Jones had two hits each for the Pirates, who collected six hits as a team.

It was the third straight win for the Pirates, who defeated Blountstown earlier in the week and beat Cottondale 11-0 in 5 innings Thursday night in Cottondale.

Trevin Hall pitched four innings for the win and Jake Jackson hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to end the game.

Sneads led 2-0 through three innings before adding four in the fourth, getting a two-run triple by Garrett Dunham, an RBI double by Josh Blount and an RBI single by Yawn to take an 8-0 lead.

The two district wins this week means that Sneads locks up third place in the district race and will play Altha in the semifinals of the district tournament.