A not-so-funny-thing happened to Hilo’s Edgar Barclay on his way to pitching a no-hitter. Instead of finishing with an impressive win, the hard-throwing hurler was saddled with a tough 3-1 defeat to Chesterfield, Va. in the PONY Baseball World Series on Monday.
A not-so-funny-thing happened to Hilo’s Edgar Barclay on his way to pitching a no-hitter. Instead of finishing with an impressive win, the hard-throwing hurler was saddled with a tough 3-1 defeat to Chesterfield, Va. in the PONY Baseball World Series on Monday.
The 10-team, double-elimination tournament for players ages 13-14 is being played in Washington, Pa.and runs through Thursday.
Hilo (1-1) entered the top of the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead and Barclay in control. But the young pitcher ran into trouble in the inning, walking three batters and throwing two wild pitches as Chesterfield scored three runs and then held on for the hard-fought victory.
Barclay finished with a no-hitter, but the not-so-funny seventh inning proved to be the downfall for the previously unbeaten Big Islanders.
“These are kids and things are going to happen,” Hilo coach Eric Kurosawa said. “Edgar pitched a good game. It’s just one of those things.”
Kurosawa declined comment when asked about the umpiring — how a dominant pitcher through six innings would suddenly run into such major trouble and open the door for the opponents.
“We’re here and focused on playing baseball,” Kurosawa said. “We’ll be ready to play tomorrow and we’ll need to play and win two games if we want to advance further in the tournament.”
Hilo plays Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico today and if the Big Islanders win, they play a second elimination contest at 2 p.m.