Mason gets another no-hitter in regional semifinal win over Oak Hills

OXFORD, Ohio – Different names, same results for the Mason High School baseball team.

For the second postseason game in a row at Miami University’s McKie Field, a Comets pitcher threw a no-hitter. After Michael Bilo’s gem in last season’s regional final win over Moeller, it was senior Andrew Visconti enjoying the postseason spotlight this time.

Visconti threw a no-hitter to lead the Comets to a 7-0 win over Oak Hills Wednesday afternoon in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I, Region 4 semifinals. Mason (22-7), the defending state champions, will play the winner of the nightcap between Springboro and Beavercreek. Oak Hills finishes 17-11.

“I’ve never really pitched in a game like this, so (the key was) being able to slow myself down and keep everything going towards the plate,” Visconti said.

Visconti, a lefthander, threw 104 pitches. He struck out nine and walked four, and only had a couple of hard hit balls to the outfield.

Visconti threw his second no-no in as many games in the postseason after hurling a five-inning complete game against Walnut Hills in the district tournament. He struck out 13 that day out of a possible 15 outs and now has 59 Ks in 37 innings.

“He’s a hard guy to square up,” Mason head coach Curt Bly said. “He was in control from the start. He was a little loose a couple of times but he got it back quick. He’s been able to maintain his composure and he was outstanding today.”

Visconti improved to 6-1 this season. In 37 innings, he has only allowed eight hits. Five of those came against Fairfield April 17. He had a 2.57 ERA coming into the Oak Hills game. He has allowed 11 earned runs, with six of those coming against St. Xavier May 15.

He now has 44 walks in those 37 innings. He said he switched to pitching out of the stretch in midseason to try to improve his command.

“Walks have always been part of my game,” he said. “I hate it, but we went back to the drawing board a little bit. My eyes were going a little haywire and I would pick up the glove late. Being able to stick your eyes to the glove the whole time has helped with my command. Just being able to slow myself down gives me more time to fill up the zone, and my fielders give me a lot of help.”

Visconti is the ace of the staff after a season-ending injury to junior Ben Hanley, who hasn’t thrown since May 7. Bly said Hanley has not needed surgery and will be back next season, and that Hanley's loss shook up the team for a little while.

The Comets gave Visconti a comfortable lead right away after scoring four in the first inning.

Senior Cade Landheer and junior Sam Davies led off with singles. Chase Cox bunted both runners over. Senior J.J. Darst hit a single to plate them and give Mason a 2-0 lead. Junior Liam Sander launched a double to the wall in deep left field to make it 3-0. Junior Isaac Vargo delivered an RBI single to make it 4-0.

“We always want to score first,” Bly said. “We thought we had a good plan against them, and the guys did a good job of ambushing them in the first inning and giving us a cushion.”

In the fourth, Vargo led off with a single, his second hit of the game. Senior Drew Johnson hit a ball near shortstop Brody Sullivan that he appeared to have trouble seeing because Vargo was in front of him. The ball went into the outfield and then rolled through both outfielders towards the fence, allowing Johnson to follow Vargo around the bases and make it 6-0. Johnson was credited with a single.

Cox and Crociata singled in the fifth and Sander brought in Cox with a sacrifice fly.

Sander and Darst had two RBIs apiece. Eight of the Comets’ starters had a base hit.

The lineup looks a lot different than last year’s senior-loaded state champions, but the standard remains the same.

“We expect that,” Bly said. “We graduated a lot last year but we knew the guys that we had who were ready to step in and fill those shoes. We had a little adversity. We had a little bump there at the end of the regular season, but our guys keep believing and understanding what our process is. We’ve got dudes on this team and we expect to win every time we go out there.”

The Enquirer will update this story with the next game's results.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mason gets another no-hitter in regional semifinal win over Oak Hills