Talawanda no-hit in loss to Little Miami

This story was produced by Miami University journalism student Cole Likovetz in partnership with the Oxford Free Press.

Little Miami High School shut out the Talawanda Brave on April 7, throwing a no-hitter through six innings in a 16-0 win in Oxford.

Junior left-handed pitcher Keegan Fitzpatrick led the Panthers’ dominant performance, throwing four innings while striking out three. For the Brave, senior right-handed pitcher Austin Puckett entered the game in relief in the top of the third inning while down 3-0, with the goal of slowing down a red-hot Little Miami lineup. 

Puckett allowed 10 hits and struck out one, later crediting Little Miami’s patience at the plate as a key factor in the outcome.

“Pitches weren’t landing where they needed to and they were not chasing,” Puckett said. “Really disappointed that my breaking ball wasn’t breaking, those guys were all over it, so good on them.”

Talawanda struggled at the plate throughout the game, unable to record a hit against an efficient Little Miami pitching staff. Backed by a perfect defensive effort, Little Miami committed no errors, while Talawanda defensive miscues accounted for five errors.

Panthers head coach Gabriel “Gebe” Olivencia, now in his second year leading the program, praised his team’s resistance following the win. 

“We (Little Miami) played really clean defense,” Olivencia said. “Errors have been a focus for us early in the season and obviously it’s nice that the bats backed them up as well.” 

Despite the rough outing, Talawanda head coach Matt Lykins saw bright spots to build on in future games. 

“We threw a lot of strikes early which I liked to see,” Lykins said. “They (Little Miami) had a lot of blooper hits today which is just unlucky. That's baseball.” 

Lykins credited junior catcher Wyatt Conrad for his performance behind the plate, seeing a possible turning point for Brave pitching moving forward.

“Pitching started off strong and started to slow down towards the end,” Conrad said. “I think that’s one thing we need to work on moving forward is our pitching, I’m confident it will get there in the end.” 

Talawanda’s record stands at 0-7 . The Brave next home game is April 17 against Monroe High School.