Photo by Kim North Shadyside pitcher Bryce Amos delivers to the plate during Thursday’s game against Monroe Central. Amos tossed a no-hitter in the contest as he struck out 14 hitters along the way.

By KIM NORTH

For The Intelligencer

SHADYSIDE — Tulane University saw enough from Bryce Amos early in his Shadyside baseball career to offer the righthander an NCAA Division I scholarship. Monroe Central watched – literally – as the Tigers’ senior worked his magic Thursday night.

The 6-7 Amos struck out 14 in throwing his first career no-hitter as Shadyside (14-3) blanked the visiting Seminoles, 7-0, on cloud-covered Fleming Field. He walked three, hit one and needed 95 pitches (63 strikes) in the 1-hour, 31-minute gem.

“I combined on a no-hitter last season with Mason (VanNest) but this is my first complete game no-hitter,” Amos said. “It feels pretty good. I just go out there and do my thing every time they give me the ball. Today I wanted to attack the hitters.”

He did just that by fanning the side in the top of the first. He had at least one K in each inning and threw a first-pitch strike to 17 of the 26 Seminoles (12-12) he faced.

“Getting ahead in the count is really important,” Amos noted.

When asked when he realized he had a no-hitter going, he was quick to reply.

“The entire game,” he said with a smile. “Every time I pitch that is my goal.”.

Eight of his punchouts were looking.

“I hit the outside corner a couple of times and my slider was working really good,” he said of the caught lookings. “I had faith in those two pitches. That’s all I needed.”

Despite announcing his college choice early in his career, Amos is still a competitor every time he is handed the baseball.

“I still push myself to do better every time I go out there,” he admitted. “I want to be perfect every time. I kept my pitch count under 100. We scored some runs and got a win.”

Shadyside head coach Shawn Selmon was almost at a loss for words to describe the outing by Amos.

“Bryce was on today. There was no doubt about that,” he said. “He was in a zone.”

Selmon said that Amos wasn’t on a pitch count, but they didn’t want to go more than 100.

“Bryce will walk a batter here and there, but once that happens it’s like a wakeup call and he resets himself and gets back to work.”

The first three batters in the Tigers order combined for eight of the team’s 12 hits. Korey Beckett and Rhys Francis, the top two, evenly divided four singles, a pair of doubles and two RBI. No. 3 hitter Mason VanNest rapped a pair of doubles to knock in three runs.

“The top of our order has been pretty consistent all season,” Selmon noted. “We’re working on the bottom but those guys have been getting some hits here and there.”

Cole Micker had two singles from the No. 8 spot and No. 9 hitter Grant Miller drew a pair of walks. Ryan Florence had a run-producing base hit and Amos drove in the game-winning run with a first-inning groundout.

“We weren’t aggressive enough at the plate. That’s what happens when you totally disregard what you’re being told, you get no-hit and that’s what happened,” Monroe Central head coach Chris Leasure stressed. “You can get to a pitcher like him, but you’ve got to have an approach and we didn’t today.

“He’s got talent. He’s one of the better pitchers we’ve seen this year,” Leasure said of Amos.