Verrett tosses no-hitter

Onekama salvages split with TC Christian

Posted by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate

ONEKAMA — Wearing a wide smile, Stephen Verrett executed the slightest of fist pumps while walking off the mound.

A called third and final strike cued the Onekama senior’s celebration, which looked about as effortless as the gem he had just woven.

Verrett no-hit Traverse City Christian on Friday to salvage a split for the Portagers in a 4-0 victory in the doubleheader’s nightcap. He silenced the same lineup that mercied Onekama (4-8-1) in the five-inning opener, 15-1.

“The last couple games I’ve been struggling with location,” Verrett said afterward. “I felt today, I was more comfortable. … I think mostly I just felt more confident.”

His coach couldn’t agree more about Verrett’s six-inning no-hitter, in which he allowed just three walks with nine strikeouts.

“He was strong, but I think confident is the best word to describe how he looked out there,” Portagers coach John Neph said. “He was confident in what he was doing. He and Joe (Eno) work well as a pitching-catching combination. They kept each other focused, kept it in the zone and Stephen pitched a whale of a game.”

Verrett served as his own run support too.

After Eno drew a walk on a full count with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning, Verrett knocked a three-run double on the first pitch he saw to give the Portagers the 4-0 lead that would hold up the rest of the way.

“I’ve been working this year trying to get hits early in the count when I can,” Verrett said. “I was looking for a first pitch there, so since it was right down the middle I tried to drill it.”

Said Neph: “I think what helped him was that bases-loaded double. The game became 4-0, and as a pitcher, that gives you a little room to breathe.”

Both Eno and Verrett finished the nightcap batting 1-for-2 while Dallas Hearit was 1-for-1 with a run scored for the Portagers.

Friday’s opener was a different story for Onekama, as the Sabers teed off in the first inning and plated 12 runs.

“We got off the field that first inning kind of like ‘whoa, what just happened?’” Neph said of the poor start to the series. “But after that, they scored three runs all night. In that first inning, though, they pounded the baseball. There’s no other way around that; they hit the snot out of it.”

Onekama used four pitchers in the contest, as Eno was credited with the loss.

Eno also led the way at the plate in the opener, hitting 3-for-3 with a double and batting in the Portagers’ lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jon Eno and Josh Jacobs also had a hit for Onekama in the contest.

“We had to play our way through that first game,” Neph said. “The lead ended up being just too big, but the fact it was just a 3-1 game after that (12-run first inning), we said we wanted to continue to play that way the rest of the night.

“Stephen obviously pitched well enough for us to do that, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”