Baseball: Keystone's Ryan Younglas opens new field with no-hitter against Wellington

LAGRANGE — The Keystone Wildcats sure know how to open a brand-new field in style. Behind a 12-strikeout no-hitter from junior right-hander Ryan Younglas, who added three runs batted in, the Wildcats posted a 12-0 victory over Wellington in five innings in the first game at the baseball diamond on Keystone's campus. "It feels great," Younglas said. "It feels really good to get out there, finally, and get off to a good start for the season. All I really was focusing on was just throwing strikes and having trust in my defense to back me up. I really have a lot of trust in my defense after really putting in a lot of work in the offseason, and it's really paying off." The Wildcats are 1-1 after the Lorain County League win. The Dukes are 1-2. Younglas got things started by striking out the first two Dukes and posted five K's through the first two innings. He worked around a two-out walk in the first and two-out hit batter in the second by ending both innings with a swinging strikeout. Younglas registered another two strikeouts in both the third and fourth innings before finishing the game by striking out the side in the top of the fifth. Younglas secured his second no-hitter in as many seasons, as he tossed one against Firelands last year. "We have all the confidence in the world in Ryan going out there and pitching," Keystone coach Bert Fitzgerald said. "I didn't know he was going to throw a no-hitter, but good for him and good for us. He's our No. 2 starter, and he's not a pitcher by trade, but the kid just is a ballplayer." Younglas got the credit for the no-hitter but was quick to share it with his catcher, Brendan Hagerman, who despite needing several minutes to collect himself after being hit with a foul tip on the second batter of the game continued to guide his teammate from behind the plate. "We've been friends growing up together our entire lives, so we have a great chemistry and always have trust in each other," Younglas said. While Younglas was great on the mound with 51 of his 72 pitches going for strikes, he was equally impressive at the plate. He went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three driven in. He had an RBI single in the first inning and drove in two in the fourth. Younglas was one of 12 Wildcats to bat in the fourth inning, as they scored seven times to put the game out of reach. Younglas had one of seven stolen bases, while Shane Ohl and Wyatt McKee had two each. "That's something we work on a lot," Fitzgerald said of baserunning. "We haven't always been the speediest team, but we want our guys to be aggressive and smart. They are allowed to do whatever they want out there. They do a great job. "Shane, our leadoff guy, wasn't our leadoff guy last year, but he did some nice baserunning for us. A year older, a year better for him, and he's ready to roll." The Wildcats will look to keep the momentum going in league play at Brookside and Black River during the week before a Saturday non-conference home game against Lorain. For the Dukes, who had five called third strikes against Younglas, they will look to get things going in a positive direction when they host Oberlin today, weather-permitting. For that to happen, a different approach at the plate will be the key. "We were watching the best pitch of the at-bat," Wellington coach Dan Davison said. "A lot of times, that was the first pitch going right down the middle. We talked to these guys about being aggressive. We just watched that first pitch, which set us up with the off-speed. "We harp on it all the time. I have no problem with them swinging at a first-pitch fastball. If it's in the zone, we should be on time, should be ready." Contact Matt Florjancic at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.