Southpaw pitcher Clay Jeffrey had not started a game on the mound for the Eagles in their first six games before Tuesday.
He might get a few more starts in the coming weeks.
Jeffrey struck out seven Eldon batters and threw a complete game no-hitter on Tuesday as SoBoCo edged the Mustangs 2-0.
“No, I’ve never thrown a no-hitter – not in youth baseball, or anytime,” Jeffrey said afterwards, still somewhat surprised by the result. “I didn’t really realize I had a no-hitter until the last inning.”
The Eagles, now 3-4, scratched out two runs in the third inning, taking advantage of a couple Eldon miscues.
First, the Mustangs’ right fielder muffed Kolton Schupp’s fly ball and then Eldon pitcher Andrew Rodriguez was slow to get to Dalton Mann’s perfectly placed bunt single. Jeffrey then lifted a sky-high pop fly into short left-center field. None of the three Mustangs could decide who should make the catch and the ball fell to the turf, allowing Schupp to score. Conner Imhoff then singled to left field, scoring Mann and giving SoBoCo all the runs they would need.
Jeffrey only ran into trouble in two innings, but never allowed a Mustangs runner past second base.
In the third inning, a Mustangs batter reached base on a Sam Stichnote error. He then went to second on a passed ball. But after a strike out, the next batter rifled a fly ball to center field where Mann made the catch and fired the ball to second base, catching the Mustangs runner off base and completing the double play.
In the seventh, Jeffrey showed signs of tiring, walking the first Eldon batter. After a strike out, the next Eldon batter hit a ground ball to Colin Vaughn at first base. Instead of stepping on the bag, Vaughn attempted to nail the lead runner at second base. Instead, he threw the ball into left field.
The second Eagles error did not phase Jeffrey one bit.
The senior, who baffled Mustangs batters with high and low curve balls throughout the game, threw one more curve ball that was slapped to Stichnote at shortstop who initiated a nifty double play to end the game.
“Clay showed up big today,” Eagles coach Andy Jahnsen said afterwards. “He had a good curve ball and was around the strike zone the entire game. He was a bit of a bulldog when he needed to be there at the end and he got the job done – it was a great effort.”
The Eagles, now 1-1 in the Tri-County Conference, will play in the Rock Bridge Tournament this weekend then play at Versailles on Monday.
• The Eagles soccer team moved to 10-0-1 with a 4-0 win at Westphalia on Tuesday. The Eagles will play in the Moberly Tournament on Friday and Saturday and play at Stover on Monday.

By Bruce Wallace