Design Tech fires six-inning perfecto

Sutton set down all nine batters he faced through three innings of work. Hom then entered to go nine up and nine down in relief, walking off the mound after the top of the sixth with a 7-0 lead. Design Tech (5-1 PSAL, 6-7 overall) then rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning to secure a mercy-rule victory, with sophomore Aidan Tom drawing a bases-loaded walk to force home the game-ending run.

“I knew we had a good game going on and I knew we had something special,” Dragons manager Jason Schlutt said. “But when we got that last run, and we got that walk-off, you could hear a little bit more cheer because we knew we had gotten that perfect game.”

Design Tech’s defense hardly got to get in on the fun. Sutton and Hom combined to strike out 15 of the 18 batters they faced. North Valley Baptist — not exactly pushovers at the plate, as the Bulldogs are hitting .407 as a team this season — put just three balls into play, all groundouts to the left side of the infield.

Sutton, who finished with seven punch-outs, induced two routine grounders to junior third baseman Diego Carrasco. The hard-throwing Hom followed by allowing the Bulldogs to make contact just once, but it prompted a perfecto-saving play in the fifth by shortstop Eoin Halili. The junior ranged right on a chopper to his backhand to nab it on the run and sling it sidearm across the diamond for a perfect strike to senior first baseman Eddy Yee.

“When I saw that happen, I was like — that saved it,” Schlutt said.

Due to the two-game series with the Bulldogs (3-3, 3-3) concluding Friday, it was determined prior to Tuesday’s game Sutton would be on an abbreviated pitch count to keep him available to pitch on two days’ rest. He threw 40 pitches and departed with a 2-0 lead.

“It wasn’t like a comfortable lead at that time,” Schlutt said. “So, there was a piece of me that was saying maybe we ride Reilly and see how far we can go.”

The Dragons continued adding to the lead, adding a single run in the third to send Hom to the mound to protect a 3-0 lead. Design Tech totaled 15 hits in the game, and rallied for two in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and finished it out with three in the sixth.

Senior Declan Larkin led the barrage, matching his career high with four hits, including a double and two RBIs. Tom was 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, Carrasco and senior Isaac Gradek had two hits apiece, and Halili had a single with two RBIs.

“I don’t think anybody realized it,” Schlutt said of the perfect game. “The innings were going so quick that everybody just wanted to get in and hit. I don’t think people were really realizing that we had something like that going on.”

Had it not been for the mercy-rule finish, Hom would have pitched the seventh inning, Schlutt said.

“He was battling but he did have a few hitters where he had them at 3-0 count,” Schlutt said. “He had to battle back.”

The perfect game marks the second no-hitter for the Dragons in as many years. Three Design Tech pitchers combined on a three-inning mercy-rule no-hitter last year in a 28-0 win at San Jose.

“We’re pretty pitcher heavy,” Schlutt said. “It’s definitely the strength of our ball club.”

As defending champions in the small-school Private School Athletic League, Design Tech is securely among the league frontrunners this season. In March, The Dragons split a two-game series with More-San Jose. The two are now tied for second place in the PSAL, with Summit Shasta (4-0, 6-7) in first place.

“The expectation with the team and with the kids is definitely to repeat as league champions,” Schlutt said.

Design Tech and Summit Shasta close the regular season with a pivotal two-game series in early May.

“We look to those games against Summit Shasta the last two games of the season as the decision as to whether we win conference or not,” Schlutt said.