Holy Spirit senior Mike Di Ianni pitches no-hitter against Mainland Regional

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher Holy Spirit senior right-hander Mike Di Ianni watched a no-hitter in the first game of the season against Egg Harbor Township. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the one throwing it. Di Ianni pitched a great game that day, allowing just two runs on four hits against the Eagles. But EHT junior southpaw Misael Castillo twirled a no-no against the Spartans in a 2-0 win. Now Di Ianni knows what Castillo was feeling that day. Di Ianni worked his way through a scrappy Mainland Regional lineup on Tuesday afternoon in Linwood, recording the first no-hitter of his high school career. He threw 99 pitches, striking out seven and walking three as the Spartans won 2-0 in a matchup that featured another of the Cape-Atlantic League’s top hurlers, Mainland’s Matt Tepedino. The closest the Mustangs came to breaking up the no-hitter was when Di Ianni deflected a sharp ground ball up the middle and second baseman A.J. Russo made the play to keep the gem intact. Holy Spirit senior Mike Di Ianni struck out seven and walked three while pitching a no-hitter Tuesday against Mainland Regional. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan, April 2, 2014) “From the second inning on I was thinking, ‘he’s got no-hit stuff.’ I didn’t say a word, of course,” said first-year Holy Spirit coach Steve Normane. “He had his good stuff from the start, Robert Boselli was great behind the plate, coach (Jason) Downey was calling pitches and everything was working right. Usually Mike is very stoic, but he pitched with a little more emotion today. I couldn’t be happier for the kid, he deserves it.” “I can’t even explain it. I wanted to stay with my approach of attacking the strike zone. Before I knew it, I was in the fifth inning and I still had the no-hitter going. To be honest, I kind of forgot about it in the fourth inning. Then, I was in the sixth inning and I was like, ‘wow, I still have this going,'” Di Ianni said. Normane said he was thrilled to be a part of a no-hitter, a rarity at any level of baseball. “No-hitters are really like a once-a-season type of thing and we’ve seen two in the first two weeks. I’m just happy this one was on our end,” Normane said. “I think I was a part of maybe one or two others in my life. To get it in my second week of coaching high school is great. But it’s not about me, it’s all about Mike and the guys. Anthony Boselli probably made six or seven putouts at shortstop, everybody played good defense and we jumped on Tepedino early, which is hard to do. He pitched a heck of a game, too. We got on him a little early but he shut us down the rest of the way.” Mainland head coach Billy Kern recognized the moment as well and presented Di Ianni with a game ball after the final out. “Coach Kern was extremely gracious. He gave Mike a game ball, which I thought was awesome,” Normane said. “There are some classy coaches around this conference and I’m just happy to be a part of it. I thought it was a really nice gesture.” Di Ianni said the gesture was unexpected and that he appreciated an opposing coach saluting his effort on the mound. “It was very nice of him. It was a great gesture. He’s a good coach and I really appreciated it at that moment,” Di Ianni said. “My mom was tearing up. I walked over and gave her a hug and she was crying. I was about to also, but I held it.” Di Ianni said he gave the game ball to his mom, Tina, as a way of thanking her for all she and his father, Dave, have done for him the last four years, including traveling to games and tournaments throughout the years and helping him with his college choice. “I know (my parents) have been traveling a lot (to all my games) and this is a special moment for us as a family. It’s a special moment for everyone. I’ve already gotten calls from my uncle, my grandparents down in Florida, I’ve seen Facebook posts,” Di Ianni said. “Everyone was in the game and handled it well. They did their job in the field and I tip my hat to them. I tip my hat to my catcher, Rob Boselli, too. He did a great job behind the plate.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]