Amazing California duo sets national no-hitter record
Earlier this spring, Prep Rally and RivalsHigh reported rather extensively about an incredible, unheralded pitching duo in Northern California. At the time, Maxwell (Calif.) High ace Steven Perry had notched four straight no-hitters, tying a national record (he eventually fell short of setting a new national mark, pitching a six-inning one-hitter a game later). Perry's teammate and best friend, Tyler Wells, had won 28 consecutive games, recording nothing but wins since his freshman year.
After all the publicity, the duo didn't exactly slow down. And by season's end, the longtime best friends had combined for yet another amazing national record: According to the Sacramento Bee, Perry, who is pictured above and below in action earlier in the 2011 season from the Colusa County Sun-Herald, and Wells finished with more no-hitters for one team than any other school had in any season.
In fact, the duo didn't just set that new national record, they smashed it with 11, including a particularly special final no-hitter in the Northern California Division V Championship game on May 21. In that game, Wells pitched six innings of no-hit baseball with 14 strikeouts, then went to his coach, Eric Lay, and asked him to put in Perry.
Fittingly, the traditional second starter fanned all three batters he faced to close out the Panthers' 11-0 rout of Tulelake (Calif.) High. The win was Maxwell's 30th of the season.
As if all their combined no-hitters weren't enough, the Bee compiled all the different state records the two now hold. As one might imagine, the lists are absolutely staggering.
Among the state records set by Wells, who will walk on at Nevada in the fall, are most RBIs for a season and career (78, 213); most career doubles (62) and most consecutive pitching wins (35).
Among the state records set by Perry: Most career runs scored (211), most consecutive shutouts (seven) and most consecutive hitless innings (24 1/3).
In addition to the national no-hitters record, the duo also combined to set the California record for shutouts with 18, and pushed their coach's record mark to an all-time best percentage of .864 at 254-40.
Whether the straight A students will have similar success at the collegiate level remains to be seen, but one thing seems certain: The tiny school of Maxwell High, which features just 140 students, will never see a duo like theirs again.
"I could coach another 20 years and maybe not have another kid as good as either of them," Lay told RivalsHigh in April. "People say we're a small school or in a weak division or whatever. But there are a lot of kids in small [schools] and weak divisions and none of them are doing this."
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