Baseball: Jack Flaherty’s legend grows with no-hitter [Video]

With his fastball hitting 92 mph in the seventh inning, Jack Flaherty of Harvard-Westlake was at the top of his pitching form on Friday in a Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener against Riverside North.

After giving up a leadoff walk, he retired the next 21 batters in order to finish with a no-hitter in the Wolverines’ 5-0 win over North. He struck out 10.

His no-hitter was saved by a sixth-inning catch from left fielder Jake Suddleston and a diving catch on the final out in the seventh by center fielder Jackson Grayson, the same player who saved Flaherty in last year’s Division 1 final at Dodger Stadium by throwing out a runner at the plate to end the game.

“I think I owe him a dinner,” Flaherty said of Grayson.

Afterward, while doing an interview, Flaherty received a plate of yogurt in the face (there was no pie and no shaving cream) from a teammate.

Flaherty is 10-0 this season and 23-0 the last two seasons. In four years, he’s 35-3 on the mound.

He signed with North Carolina, but a national crosschecker who attended Friday’s game said, “There’s no doubt he’s as good as a high school pitcher as you can find.”

Brian Ginsberg had three hits. Harvard-Westlake (22-6-1) will play at Edison on Tuesday in a second-round game.