Baseball: Paxton Giertz, Aidan Vilcek combine for no-hitter in Seneca’s win over WFC

SENECA – For five innings, Seneca sophomore pitcher Paxton Giertz was on cruise control Thursday versus Tri-County Conference foe Woodland/Flanagan-Cornell, keeping the Warriors hitless.

But after 79 pitches, Seneca coach Tim Brungard opted to lift his left-hander to battle another day with the Fighting Irish only three games into their season.

Brungard went with junior righty Aidan Vilcek, who came on and closed out a combined no-hitter with two perfect innings on the hill.

Giertz earned his first win of the season and Vilcek his first save in a 3-0 league triumph.

“I wanted to stay in, but it’s so early in the year and I’m just warming up on the mound, so I think it was the best thing to go with Aidan (Vilcek) to secure the win,” Giertz said. “I thought I threw too many pitches early on, but overall I was pretty happy with my performance and especially getting the no-hitter with Aidan.”

In his five innings, Giertz did not allow one ball to reach the outfield while striking out 10 and walking three with one hit batter.

Vilcek was solid, too, taking the reins from Giertz and delivering a perfect sixth and seventh with two strikeouts, getting some help from senior shortstop Calvin Maierhofer, who saved the no-hitter with a diving grab in the hole in the seventh.

“That was the best catch I’ve seen in a long time and [Maierhofer] is a great shortstop,” Vilcek said. “There was a lot of pressure on me coming in after Paxton’s great start. But I did what I needed with the help of Calvin to close out the no-hitter.”

Seneca (2-1, 2-0 TCC) recorded its second combined no-hitter against WFC with the first just a year ago.

“I think we did it last year against them, so that’s a nice thing that our team can reflect upon,” Brungard said. “Paxton did a great job of getting ahead in the count for the most part and he pounded the zone with some great velocity and a lot of life in his arm. If you were talking with me in late April, I would have left him in to complete the no-hitter. But I decided to go with Aidan [Vilcek], who ultimately got things done with some fine help from Calvin [Maierhofer] defensively.”

The Warriors (1-4, 0-2) lost their second game in three days to the Irish but received a great pitching performance, as well, from junior Tucker Hill, who allowed two earned runs and six hits with seven strikeouts and only one walk.

“Tucker did very well today, but he needed some backing at the plate from us, which we couldn’t deliver against Seneca’s pitching,” WFC coach Dan Essman said. “I’ve got to give it up to Paxton [Giertz] because he’s one heck of a pitcher, and even when he left we couldn’t get anything done against their reliever [Vilcek]. We just came up a little short against two fine pitchers.”

Seneca took the lead in the bottom of the first when Giertz led off with a single, stole second and went to third on Maierhofer’s sacrifice bunt.

Giertz trotted home on junior Casey Clennon’s run-scoring groundout to first base that gave the Irish a 1-0 lead after one inning.

The home squad tacked on an unearned run off Hill in the third when junior Kenny Daggett reached on an error, went to third on a second Warrior miscue and scored on Maierhofer’s RBI groundout to shortstop that put Seneca up 2-0.

Daggett reached base again in the bottom of the fifth on a single to right field and then stole second. Giertz laced an RBI double to left to score Daggett for a 3-0 lead.

All that was left was for Vilcek to come on in relief for Giertz to close the deal.

After a perfect sixth and one out in the seventh, the Warriors’ Connor Dodge tagged a Vilcek pitch that seemingly was destined for left field. But Maierhofer’s fully extended catch in the hole saved the no-hitter.

“What a way to help end a great game for us, and that’s a play that will be remembered for a long time in a no-hitter like this,” Brungard said. “Kudos to him and the great pitching performances from Paxton and Aidan.”