CAMERON – It would be safe to say that Cameron had an Angel on its side in Saturday’s W.Va. Class A Region I bottom bracket final against Clarksburg Notre Dame.

Junior Kason Angel struck out 13 in six innings and teamed with senior Wes Starcher on a no-hitter as the No. 2 Dragons (20-11) blanked the visiting Irish, 6-0, on overcast Dragon Field.

“It all started on the mound. We had the right mentality. We were aggressive,” Cameron head coach Adam Angel said. “This was the second time in four days that we had seen them and the fourth time this season, so we knew they were going to be aggressive at the plate.

“A combined no-hitter is pretty sweet.”

Kason Angel threw 109 pitches, one shy of the WVSSAC one-game limit, as he walked four batters, including three in the third when he threw 34 pitches. However, he escaped without any damage by inducing one of four ground ball outs. The third-seeded Irish only hit one ball out of the infield, that being a fly out to left for the first out of the top of the sixth.

“It feels great to help the team come out and win each day,” Kason Angel said. “My fastball was working really good today and I was able to work other pitches off of it that created swings and misses.”

Starcher got two ground ball outs and ended the nearly two-hour contest with a strikeout.

“I wasn’t really thinking about (the no-hitter) happening because I knew I had too many walks anyway. I didn’t really care about how many hits I gave up, all I wanted to do was win the game.”

Of Angel’s 13 strikeouts, six were looking.

The No. 3-5 batters in Cameron’s lineup – Angel, Zayde Long and Anthony Bellanco – did most of the offensive damage with a combined eight hits and four RBI. Angel and Long both singled twice and doubled, with Long driving in two runs. Bellanco had two singles and a pair of ribbies.

Long singled to right with one out in the bottom of the first as Starcher and Angel scored. Bellanco then knocked in Long for a 3-0 lead.

That was more than enough run support for Angel, who threw 63 strikes and 12 first-pitch strikes to the 22 Irish batters he faced.

“That’s good,” Coach Angel remarked. “Usually the top of our order carries us, but the other day against these guys (Notre Dame) it was the middle and bottom that carried us. Hopefully, we can go top-to-bottom against whomever we play next.”

Bellanco had another run-producing single in the third and a fifth tally scored on an error as the margin increased to 5-0.

Hunter Evans raced home after a pick-off attempt at third in the sixth inning to cap the scoring.

With the win, Cameron punched its ticket to a best-of-3 regional series against the winner of the top bracket. Top-seeded Madonna plays the winner of the No. 5 Trinity at No. 4 Clay-Battelle game on Monday, with the Blue Dons having to lose twice.

The regional championship series is set to begin on Tuesday, May 28 at the higher seeded team’s home field. Game 2 would be played at the lower seed on Wednesday, with the deciding game, if necessary, scheduled for Thursday, once again at the higher seed.

“I think we’re in a great place to win some games,” Kason Angel said. “We’re getting better each day.”