Radford's Dillon no-hits Farrington, 2-0

Stacy Kaneshiro | SL

WAIPAHU - Coaches like to see improvement as the season goes along, so Radford pitcher Jack Dillon had a tough act to follow.

A week after the lanky junior right-hander tossed a one-hitter against Kaihuku, he followed up with a no-hitter to beat Farrington, 2-0, Saturday.

The battle of unbeatens saw the Rams (3-0) move into a first-place tie with Waianae (3-0) in Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II West. Farrington fell to 2-1, but still leads in the East.

"My last game, I threw a one-hitter, so that was a big motivation to come out here," Dillon said. "When my coach told me I was going in the last inning, I said, ‘All right, it's my opportunity.' i tried really hard. I knew my boys, they had my back the whole game. We were just out there having fun."

Maybe his teammates had fun because he got them involved. He struck out a modest four and walked three. But of the 21 outs recorded, 12 were on ground balls.

"It's what my dad tells me, ‘Pitch low and they'll hit the ball low,'' Dillon said. "That's what I tried to do the whole game."

Radford coach Jacob Sur said it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to have a lot of ground outs.

"He consistently throws strieks and pounds the strike zone with multiple pitched," Sur said. "He's just staying with what he does."

It was Dillon's first no-hitter at any level, he said.

"I was really worried because my last game, they got one hit in the very last inning," Dillon said. "That threw off my no-hitter, so this game I tried to stay focuse the whole time, really push myself to keep up the intensity level."

Dillon needed be at his best because Farrington starting pitcher Trey Kaawa was no slouch either. He allowed two runs, one earned, and allowed only four hits and a walk with five strikeouts in seven innings for Governors.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].