Sage Hill sophomore pitcher Ashwin Chona will try Thursday to break the CIF-Southern Section baseball record for consecutive no-hitters.
The record is three, which he set last week.
Chona is the scheduled to go for his four straight no-hitter Thursday in the Lightning’s Academy League game at Brethren Christian. Sage Hill is 15-1-2 overall and 5-0 in league. Brethren is 4-10 overall and 1-6 in league.
His streak began March 20 when he no-hit Whitney of Cerritos in a league game. Chona next no-hit Santa Rosa Academy in an Anaheim Lions Tournament game March 27. His third straight no-hitter was in a league game against Calvary Chapel of Downey on April 6.
The Whitney no-hitter, a 9-0 win for Sage Hill, was a regulation seven-inning game. The no-hitters against Santa Rosa Academy and Calvary Chapel were five-inning games cut short by the mercy rule, 10-0 and 16-0 final scores respectively.
Chona, a left-hander, struck out 13 with two walks against Whitney. He had nine strikeouts with one walk against Santa Rosa Academy and 12 strikeouts with two walks against Calvary Chapel.
He is 4-0 with a 0.62 ERA, and 55 strikeouts with 11 walks in 34 innings.
Chona has some no-hitter competition on the Sage Hill roster. Lighting senior right-hander Brett Super on Tuesday pitched his second no-hitter of the season in an 11-0 win over Brethren.
Chona enjoys the no-hit rivalry.
“We just joke around with it,” Chona said. “’Anything you can do, I can do better.’”
The CIF State record for consecutive no-hitters is four. It ha been done a few times, most recently by Steven Perry of Maxwell High in 2011.
The state record for most no-hitters in a season is five, held by Perry (2011 season) and Troy Ankerson of Mater Dei in 1957.