MALTA, Ill. --- Freshman pitcher Alvin Velasquez (Patricia Paetow H.S.) carved out his own piece of Prairie State baseball history Friday, April 4, when he spun the program's first no-hitter in 15 years.
 
Thanks in part to a an eight-hit attack, a dominating Velasquez went the distance in a 10-0 victory over the Kougars in Malta.
 
Aside from not allowing a batter to reach base via hit, the 5-foot-10 Velasquez didn't surrender a run while walking a pair and striking out eight.
 
The victory propelled the Pioneers' record to 14-7 overall.
 
Once Velasquez fired off his final pitch of his gem, he became the first PSC hurler since standout Nick Gross tossed his own no-no on April 15, 2010 in an 11-0 triumph over Illinois Valley.  The hard-throwing left-hander eventually went on to pitch at NCAA Division I Bradley University. 
 
PSC head coach Dre Gilmore was more than pleased with Velasquez's efforts.
 
"Velasquez was in the zone for the majority of the game," Gilmore said.  "He walked a couple guys, but stayed ahead of hitters the rest of the way.  Being able to do that allowed him to work with his off speed.  He was dealing, so we knew if we scored four or five, the game would be over and it was."
 
Velasquez needed 67 pitches to complete his masterpiece, 41 of which went for strikes.