Unhittable: Resnick's No-Hitter Sends GBN Baseball to Sectional Final

It's a story even Hollywood would scoff at.

pitcher Pete Resnick made his first start of the year in the biggest game of the year so far, a sectional semifinal against Loyola, and threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 Spartans win Thursday at .

Resnick’s command and sidearm delivery kept Rambler hitters off balance all game. The junior struck out ten, five looking, and his only blemish was a walk in the first inning. Only one ball left the infield, a fly out to left fielder Jack Day in the fourth inning.

Loyola senior Eric Hagman grounded out to the Spartans’ solid fielding shortstop, , for the final out. The Spartans mobbed Resnick with a dog pile near the mound.

“They put some balls in play that my fielders could make some nice plays on, but a win is a win. It looks a little better with the no-no,” Resnick said with a laugh for the understatement of the day.

Second baseman Brad Ruchman gobbled up a pair of ground balls in the seventh before Synek threw to first baseman Tyler Hurst for the last out. Credit goes to the infield, Hurst, Ruchman, Synek and third baseman Ryan Slawin, who made every play on the ten groundballs that came their way.

Resnick kept the ball low with his drop down arm angle, forcing all the groundouts. The right-hander’s delivery is unconventional, but it’s something he has always done.

“It just seemed natural to me,” Resnick said. “Everybody wanted to change it, but it always worked. I’ve just been sticking with it.

“I spotted my fastball today, keeping everything low. Keeping off speed low, too. Trying to mix it up make sure they couldn’t know what I was throwing at any given time.”

Starting isn’t new to Resnick, who was a starter until this season, when he has been used as a reliever for the Spartans.

Coach Dominic Savino watched Loyola play its regional final Saturday and was impressed with how they attacked fastballs. With that in mind, Resnick’s quality off speed pitches made him the choice to start.

“I felt like his ability to throw off speed pitches in any count would hopefully give us an advantage and obviously it gave us even more than we could have wished or hoped for,” Savino said. “That was an outstanding performance all the way around.”

The coaching staff talked with Resnick about making the start a couple days ago, but made it official Wednesday, making for an antsy 24 hours for Resnick.

“The whole day I had to think about it, which is something I’m not used to, but I like it that way,” Resnick said. “I like knowing I’m going to pitch and prepare for the whole day. I’m mentally ready to go out there and get the job done.”

Resnick said he didn’t start thinking about the no-hitter until the Loyola dugout starting talking about it around the fifth inning, trying to get in his head. The Spartans left Resnick alone in the dugout, but that wasn’t because of the no-hitter.

“I have my little spot and nobody comes and talks to me in my spot,” he said. “They know that’s my place. I’m just glad they could put some runs up for me and I could keep the zero on the board.”

GBN took the lead in the third after Charlie Apfelbach walked, stole second and scored on a Brett Synek single. Synek advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt and then stole third before Chad Bruce drove him in with another single.

Sean Thomas led off the bottom of the sixth with a double down the right field corner and Day followed that up with a run-scoring single to provide more than enough offense for Resnick.

After the final out, it was hard to tell what the Spartans were more excited about, the no-hitter or being one win away from the program’s first trip to the elite eight since 1974. Day called Resnick’s performance the best he’s been a part of in his years of playing baseball, but being this far in the playoffs is a big accomplishment as well.

“One more game and we’re in supersectionals and that would just be great for the team,” Day said. “I think we’ve worked hard all season. Our 32-3 record has definitely prepared us for this and I think we have it in us to go far.”

The No. 2 seed Spartans will face top-seeded Leyden in the GBS Sectional final Saturday at 10 a.m. Star pitcher , who last pitched Monday, could start the game but Savino doesn’t want to make him pitch more than once a week. The coach said he will decide who starts the sectional final on Friday.