By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Reporter

PELHAM – Connor Radcliff and the Panthers only needed five innings to put visiting John Carroll Catholic away on March 12. Radcliff pitched a no-hitter that spanned five innings on only 63 pitches. He struck out nine and held the Cavaliers at bay all day. His pitching combined with the play from the plate by the Pelham bats turned the game into a rout quickly. Matthew Cerfilio and Cam Mclean took the mound for John Carroll on the afternoon, but could not do much to stymie the offensive flow of the Panthers from the plate.

After Sam Finnerty reached base due to an error in the first and was subsequently brought home via a Hunter Stovall sacrifice fly, the Panthers went into the second inning up 1-0. The second inning was when Pelham did the majority of their damage though in the second inning. With two outs and no runs scored in the second, the bats erupted to bring in five straight runs. Boomer Murchison, Finnerty, Justin Anderson and Stovall all got hits in succession that led to the five-run bonanza, and Pelham extended their lead to 6-0.

The Panthers would add three more runs in the bottom of the third, and two runs in the bottom of the fifth, which would be enough to end the game early, on account of the 10-run rule.

Pelham is currently ranked second by the ASWA in class 6A, directly behind Cullman, who beat Pelham twice earlier in the year in back-to-back games. The Panther’s senior-heavy roster moved to 11-3 with the victory.

Finnerty, Anderson and Tyler Wilburn all had a pair of hits on the day. Anderson went 2-3 with a double and drove in 5 RBIs in the win.

This was Radcliff’s fourth start of the year and his second complete game, the other coming against Helena in a winning effort on March 6.