NEWPORT BEACH — Sage Hill sophomore Ashwin Chona pitched his second consecutive no-hitter Monday, beating Santa Rosa Academy, 10-0, in a five-inning game in the Anaheim Lions Tournament at Sage Hill.
The 5-foot-6, 160-pound left-hander struck out eight and walked one in five innings. Santa Rosa’s only other base runner reached on an error.
Chona had no-hit Whitney of Cerritos, 9-0, on March 20 while striking out 12.
Chona tied a CIF-Southern Section record for consecutive no-hitters. Back-to-back no-hitters had been done 15 times before, but the last time was 1997 by J.R. Chavira of Bethel Baptist.
Santa Rosa’s best chance for a hit came in the second inning, when the cleanup hitter drove a hard line drive to right field. Sophomore Eddie Pelc caught it on one hop and easily threw out the runner at first base.
Chona, 3-0, has a 0.72 earned-run average with 43 strikeouts and nine walks in 29 innings. Last year he was 12-0 with a 0.65 ERA.
Chona has reached 83 mph with his fastball, but his best pitch is a changeup.
“He’s really deceiving,” said Sage Hill coach Dominic Campeau. “Because of his arm action and delivery, you can’t see his change. He constantly keeps hitters off-balance.”
Sage Hill’s Brett Super pitched two no-hitters last year, one of them a perfect game.
