QUINCY — The skies were cloudy, but Rob Madden’s head was clear.
The Hingham High junior lefthander threw his first varsity no-hitter Thursday, feasting on Sandwich, 5-0. He struck out nine and allowed only one walk (on a borderline 3-2 pitch) as the Harbormen improved to 12-3 with the non-league victory.
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to have a game today,” said Madden (4-1), who waited out two lightning-related delays. “When I got to the field I was weirdly relaxed.”
That was a nice change of pace.
“Rob’s biggest problem is that sometimes he overthinks,” Hingham coach Bob Rodgers said. “Lately he’s been letting the game come to him.”
That was the case against Sandwich as Madden, with his dad Bob in attendance, said he took a simple approach. “My arm didn’t feel great,” he said, “but I knew I just had to throw strikes and get it over (the plate). We have a great defense.
“The key was getting ahead (in counts) early. My offspeed pitches were working well. I’d get ahead with the fastball and then work in the offspeed stuff.”
Madden, who shares pitching duties with sophomore righthander Evan Flanagan (4-1), credited his outfield defense with preserving his gem. He said center fielder Stephan White made several good plays, and Tim Winter and Thomas Costello, who shared left field, each came up with fine running catches. Costello flagged down what Madden called “easily the hardest-hit ball all game” after Madden hung a curveball.
Madden slipped twice while warming up in the seventh inning but finally “found a dry spot on the mound” and went to work finishing off the no-hitter. He took special satisfaction in the final out – a fly ball to Alex Pompeo in right – because he retired the opposing pitcher who had hit him in the sixth.
“Rob was simply awesome today,” Rodgers said.
Junior Sean Greene was 4 for 4 with an RBI for Hingham. White (3 RBI) and Eddie Bowler (RBI) each had two hits.
Hingham (9-1 in the Patriot League) has five games left in the regular season – at Duxbury on Saturday night; home vs. Whitman-Hanson on May 24; at Hanover on May 26; and a doubleheader against Nauset on May 28.
If the season ended now, Rodgers said the Harbormen would be the No. 2 seed behind Plymouth North in the Division 2 South Sectional tournament. However, he cautioned, “There’s a lot of baseball left. A lot can still happen.”
Madden, though, likes what Hingham has done so far.
“We’re definitely a well-rounded team,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have stars, but we play well together and we have a lot of chemistry.”
Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/sports/high_school/x1990774307/Hingham-High-s-Rob-Madden-pitches-no-hitter#ixzz1MtMSrjZA
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