Hawken’s Faxon throws a no-hitter vs. Independence

Hawken ran its winning streak to 12 games with a 11-1 win over Independence April 24. Evan Faxon led the Hawks to victory, allowing one more run than hit.

The senior right-hander worked around five walks and a hit batter to strike out nine and throw a nohitter. Because Independence scored, the impending accomplishment didn’t register for Faxon until the game was nearly over.

“I think I didn’t really realize it until close to the end there,” Faxon said. “With the run that scored and everything I didn’t really think about it until it got down to the last couple outs.”

The no-hitter is the first for Faxon in high school, after he says he threw one in seventh grade. The achievement, though, was “not quite the same” as throwing a no-hitter at the varsity level.

Hawken’s ace is 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA. Faxon has struck out 36 batters in 27 2/3 innings and is batting .452 for the 14-3 Hawks.

Independence pushed its run across in the second on a RBI groundout. The Blue Devils loaded the bases by leading off the inning with a pair of walks and a hit batsman.

“The second inning was a little rough,” Faxon said. “There were a couple walks, couple calls that didn’t quite go our way, but I worked out of it and got back into the rhythm of things.”

In the third, an error and walk put runners on first and second with one out. Faxon started a 1-5-3 double play that negated Independence’s only other serious threat — a play coach Aaron Brandt said required versatility and baseball smarts.

From there, Faxon cruised. He struck out six and the two batters who walked did not advance beyond first. Faxon said he didn’t feel much different than in any other start and acknowledged, like in many no-hitters, things just happened to go his way that particular day.

In the dugout, Brandt watched Faxon deliver a performance that underscores what makes him one of the area’s top pitchers.

“Evan showed great resolve working around an inning when he gave up two walks and hit a batter, then allowing a run to score on a high-hop grounder,” Brandt said. “In the other six innings, there was very little threat as he was able to work both sides of the plate and mixed in some good off-speed pitches for strikes.”

The Hawks’ winning streak ended at Independence the next day (Records entering games April 27)

Gilmour, South, Wickliffe, Geneva, Berkshire, Perry

Chagrin Falls and Mayfield stay put, but every other spot changes throughout the rankings. More or less, the No. 3 through 10 spots are nebulous . ... Hawken is one of the area’s hottest teams. The Hawks have won 13 of their last 14, buoyed by a 12-game win streak, which vaults them to third . ... Kenston has won five straight, including a victory over Mayfield . ... NDCL moves ahead of Lake Catholic as the Lions swept the season series . ... A series sweep against North moves Chardon up two spots while the Rangers drop to No. 9 following a 1-3 week.

before they beat Cardinal on April 26. At 14-3 and 7-1 in Chagrin Valley Conference play, Faxon likes the way his team has improved so far after Hawken finished as the district runner-up to Berkshire last year.

“It’s a promising start,” Faxon said. “We’ve got a lot of youth, a lot of new players on varsity this year so it’s a very promising start. After we lost two of our first three, to come out and win 12 straight showed a lot of growth for the team and we’re looking good as we get closer to the tournament.”

On to Defiance

There’s one constant among the three athletic seasons at Wickliffe — Lucas Thomeier.

He started at quarterback to lead the Blue Devils to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, was a rotation player on a 15-win basketball team and mans center field for the No. 15-ranked baseball team.

After his senior year concludes, Thomeier will continue his baseball career at Defiance College. He also considered Wooster for football, but committed last week to the diamond.

“I just feel like I’ve always High school scoreboard

COURTESY AARON BRANDT