Alan Greenwood

No-hitters have become costume gems in Major League Baseball. There is no simple answer as to why.

Too many hitters are stuck in power mode. Slapping a pitch to the opposite field is a sign of weakness, even if your team is down five runs in the bottom of the ninth and desperately needs baserunners. Despite facing the absurd shifts that litter pro baseball, too many batters have no interest in dropping a bunt into the completely vacated area and take a single.

Pitchers don’t like pitching inside lest they hit a batter and be labeled a head-hunter. With batters dressed like Medieval knights and hanging into the strike zone, only pitchers with superior control seem interested in working both sides of the plate with a variety of pitches rather than focus on the radar gun’s reading.

Whatever the reason, there have been six no-hitters in the first six weeks of the season, and their devaluation is rapidly sliding down hill.

It can only be hoped that the next generation of pitching prospects will stop that slide.

As for high school pitchers, a no-hitter remains a glorious memory to share for a lifetime.

MAY 26, 1951: “Nashua High School right-hander Ronnie Cote attained a generous level of the pitching greatness predicted of him by veteran baseball observers by pitching his first schoolboy no-hitter yesterday at Holman Stadium to down Manchester West 3-1.

“Not exactly a stranger to no-hit pitching performances since he turned in a pair in Catholic Veterans Junior League competition, Cote missed a chance to hang a second goose egg on the West-siders through his own misplay, a high, wide throw to first base in the seventh inning to set up the only run he surrendered.”

MAY 27, 1966: “Big Rick Fuller hopes to at least duplicate teammate Bobby Boudreau’s pitching performance of Monday night against Portsmouth tonight when the Clippers sail their ship into Holman Stadium.

“Boudreau two-hit the punchless Port City nine while his fellow diamondmen clubbed Portsmouth pitching for a 12-0 rout at South Playground.”

MAY 28, 1976: “The first race of the new pigeon season was held starting from Hanover with the New England Combine. The winning bird was the one belonging to the loft of J. Morrissette of Rochester. His bird raced 1,343.09 yards per minute.

“Local leaders included Mike Meader with a speed of 1,087.57 yards per minute; Rodney Desrosiers, 1.017.38 yards per minute; and Bob Hagar, 810.97 yards per minute.”

MAY 29, 1981: “Sean Ryan of Amherst Country Club was second in the New Hampshire Professional Golfers Association Long Drive Tournament held Tuesday at Bretwood Country Club.

“… Ryan’s ball traveled 303 yards, 21 inches to take second place from Steve McKenzie of Exeter by 17 inches.”

MAY 30, 1991: “The team of Dave Haskell and Mike Kelleher birdied the second hole to win a playoff and capture the Spring Classic at Passaconaway Country Club in Litchfield.

MAY 31, 2001: “Keely Anderson led nine different Panthers with six goals and three assists and Beth Rogers added four goals and two assists as Nashua cruised past Oyster River, 23-5, in the opening round of the Division I tournament. Stacey Plati (11) and Leah Albaran (3) combined for 14 saves for Nashua, which improves to 15-2 overall.”

JUNE 1, 2011: “When the members of the Bishop Guertin boys tennis team think back to their 2011 state championship years from now they’ll remember one match in particular, but they might forget that it happened in the semifinals.

“With last Thursday’s semifinal against top-ranked Londonderry deadlocked at 4-4 it all came down to No. 3 doubles. The Cardinals were trailing 7-3, one game away from defeat, when Aaron Wang and Chris Dicesare rallied to pull out a 9-8, 7-4 tiebreaker victory and put the Cardinals in the finals.”

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