MANKATO — Until Wednesday, Wilson Magers had never pitched a no-hitter.
In a Section 2AAA opening-round baseball game against Worthington, the Mankato West senior sailed right past no-hitter and delivered a perfect game.
“Right from the get-go, I had a good feel for all three of my pitches today,” the hard-throwing right-hander said. “My curveball was pretty good, and I was able to locate the fastball. The defense made some nice plays behind me.”
The Scarlets, who had lost the last two games of the regular season, bunched 12 hits with four walks and three hit-batters to defeat Worthington 15-0 in five innings at ISG Field. The Scarlets stole six bases and ran the bases aggressively, trying to create some offense, having averaged just three runs per game over the last five.
“Our goal is to win a section championship,” West coach Scott Kaminski said. “We want to be aggressive, play full speed.”
Magers got West on the board in the bottom of the first inning, launching a deep sacrifice fly to left-center that only stayed in the ballpark because of the wind.
“I thought maybe it had a chance, at least to fall in the gap,” Magers said. “The centerfielder made a nice play on that one.”
In the second inning, Evan Maes lined an RBI double down the left-field line, and he came all the way around after some misplays with the throw back to the infield to make it 3-0. Ben O’Neil’s second infield single of the game brought in another run, and he scored on an outfield error for a 5-0 lead.
The Scarlets used four hits to score six runs in the third inning, with Derek Stierlen lining a two-run single and Talay Sartell smacking an RBI double down the left-field line.
O’Neil had his third RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Magers and Jayden Knutson each had an RBI double as the lead grew to 15-0.
Meanwhile, Magers was in complete control on the mound. He struck out 10 batters, including five straight at one point, and only allowed one ball to be hit out of the infield.
“Before the game, we talked about not underestimating (Worthington),” Kaminski said. “We hadn’t seen them play, and (Magers) has been giving up a hit or a run in the first inning in a couple of his starts.
“He was really working the plate. We challenged him to control his pitches, and he really focused on that.”
West faces Albert Lea in the second round at 11 a.m. Saturday at New Ulm’s Johnson Park.
“It was nice to get off to a good start,” Magers said. “Tonight, our offense and defense was in full effect.”
Please follow Chad Courrier on X @ChadCourrier.