St. Patrick/St. Vincent no-hits Kennedy

While most high school students were out on spring break working on their suntan, St. Patrick/St. Vincent senior pitcher Austin Fitzpatrick stood tall on Kennedy High’s mound and threw a complete game no-hitter. The Bruins went on defeat the Eagles 14-0.

Kennedy’s best chance to score came with two outs in the first inning when Fitzpatrick loaded the bases on walks. But Ernie Timoteo was picked off third base and thrown out at home plate by the third baseman. For the game Fitzpatrick allowed five base runners, three of which came in the first inning, and had six strikeouts.

Bruins’ head coach James Turrell said after the game it was a game-time decision to throw Fitzpatrick. “He took the ball at the last minute, told me he was ready and I believed him,” he said.

Offensively, St. Patrick/St. Vincent roped line drives to deep parts of the outfield. Their runs came in bunches as they took advantage of nine Kennedy errors. By the middle of the fourth inning the Bruins held an 11-run lead.

“They were finding a lot of balls in the field where nobody was,” Kennedy’s head coach Tim Logan said after the game. “We were out of position in some areas to where those balls probably could’ve been caught. A couple batters found the holes—that’s all it was.”

In five innings St. Patrick/St. Vincent had one home run, one triple, five doubles and nine singles.

Kennedy’s freshman pitcher Marc Lopez said it was frustrating “to see my defense fall” the last two innings of the game. “The thing that really stuck in my head was that home run,” he said describing a fly ball that bounced over center fielder Ernie Timoteo’s head. “My reaction was just to stay calm. I always try to clear my mind [before throwing the next pitch].”

Contra Costa College head baseball coach Marvin Webb stood behind home plate most of the game and surveyed the talent. The former Kennedy baseball standout who played minor league baseball throughout the 1970s for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s, said he doesn’t have anyone on his team from the city of Richmond and wants to help bring baseball talent back into the area.

“This used to be hottest place [to play baseball],” he said. “We would lose two games a year, and Richmond High would lose no games.”

Kennedy’s next game is next Wednesday at De Anza High.