West Lynn pitching duo no-hits Lynn Shore

NAHANT – West Lynn American got a performance for the ages on Monday evening as the tandem of Jonathan Nicosia and David Hunter combined for a no-hitter, while providing the majority of their team’s offense, in a 3-0 victory over Lynn Shore in a District 16 Little League Tournament baseball game.After five no-hit (and nearly perfect) innings, Nicosia was removed from the game to preserve his arm, and allow him the chance to pitch in West Lynn’s next game. Hunter relieved Nicosia and in turn did some preserving of his own by polishing off the no-no.West Lynn grabbed the only run it would need in the first inning, with Nicosia and Hunter making it happen at the plate before their pitching could take over. The latter singled before advancing to second on a misplay in left field. Nicosia followed with an RBI single, which, it turned out, would be the game-winning hit.Nicosia finished his first two frames with four strikeouts sandwiched between a popout and groundout to second baseman Aiden Leydon. After West Lynn picked up its second run in the top of the third on Nicosia’s second RBI single of the day, he struck out the side in the bottom of the frame.”Jonathan was the big story today, obviously with the no-hitter and 10 strikeouts,” said West Lynn manager Sean Ceydon of his ace pitcher. “He pitched a tremendous game and came up with some big hits as well.”The visitors struck once more in the fourth as Tommy Tully reached second on an error before advancing to third and then home, on a wild pitch and passed ball, respectively.The performance of Lynn Shore starter Hubert Martinez, although overshadowed, was tremendous in its own right.Martinez pitched all six innings, allowing the three unearned runs on five hits while striking out nine.”Hubert pitched a good game, as he always does,” said Lynn Shore manager Paul Hartford. “He pitches to contact and we unfortunately didn’t make some plays on defense.”Nicosia lost his bid for the perfect game in the fifth as Lynn Shore’s Steven Zappata hit a hard grounder to first that eluded the glove of Gary Rodriguez, who was charged with the tough-luck error. Hunter finished up the sixth with two strikeouts before a game-ending popup to shortstop.Despite the near-perfect game on the mound, Ceydon explained that there was certainly need for improvement elsewhere.”We got solid production from our one through four guys, and our ninth hitter, Tyler Thompson, came up big going two for two, but we need to hit better as a team,” Ceydon said. “We made solid contact, but we hit it right at their defense. Other than that, I’m really proud of the guys.”West Lynn plays next on Friday in Salem against the winner of tomorrow’s Pine Hill/Winthrop game with either Nicosia or Hunter set to start, with the other available out of the bullpen.