MINERAL RIDGE — Mineral Ridge freshman Nick Anderson made his first high school baseball start Thursday against Waterloo, and as one might expect, the moment felt immense.

“My stomach was hurting and my palms were sweating a lot,” Anderson said.

While the anxiety raged within, Anderson’s pitching proved to be strong and confident. He breezed through most of Waterloo’s lineup, and despite worries about his rising pitch count in the later innings, Anderson managed to finish off an unexpected and unforgettable no-hitter in a 6-0 Rams victory.

“I expected him to go out and compete,” Mineral Ridge baseball head coach Anthony Ragozine said. “I don’t think anybody expected him to come out and throw a no-hitter.”

Despite the nerves, which were not helped by the game’s postponement from Tuesday to Thursday, Anderson quickly struck out the side in the first inning and retired the side in order again in the second.

In the third inning, Anderson tallied two more strikeouts but walked a batter, ending any hope of a perfect game. That achievement, or even a no-hitter, was nowhere near Anderson’s mind though — until shortstop Xavier Klamer approached the young pitcher and brought attention to the fact that he had not yet allowed a hit.

“I made him go knock on wood as soon as he said it,” Anderson said.

Klamer’s factual statement kicked Anderson’s nerves into overdrive, but his teammates rallied around him, encouraging their freshman hurler, who retired the side in order in both the fourth and fifth.

In the sixth inning, however, Anderson walked the leadoff hitter and started showing signs of slowing down. Anderson knew his pitch count was starting to rise, and more importantly, Ragozine knew it too.

While Anderson managed to get out of the sixth unscathed, Ragozine, unaware of the potential triumph at stake, was prepared to make a pitching change.

“I wasn’t gonna send him back out in the seventh because his pitch count was getting up, and somebody in the dugout told me he had a no-hitter going. And I was like, ‘All right, well, what do we do?'” Ragozine said.

Ragozine decided to send Anderson back out to the mound for the seventh inning.

“As much as I wanted to take him out, I wanted him to go out and get that for himself,” Ragozine said.

The coach hoped his team could get the final three outs quickly. That did not happen.

After recording his ninth strikeout of the game to lead off the seventh, Anderson hit a batter with a pitch. The Rams got the second out of the inning on a groundball, but Anderson then walked a batter, putting two runners on base.

Ragozine said he could see Anderson’s legs starting to fatigue and decided that if his freshman could not get Waterloo’s Mason Sweitzer out, he would make a pitching change.

Fortunately for Anderson, on the second pitch of the at-bat, Sweitzer grounded to Klamer, who tossed the ball to first base, securing the no-hitter and a victory.

Anderson said he was so happy that he “didn’t know what to do,” but there were two people in attendance even more excited about the accomplishment than Anderson: his parents.

“They were ecstatic. I actually looked up at them and they were jumping, screaming,” Anderson said. “My mom wanted to come to the field and probably come and hug me at that point, but she held herself back. I was very surprised by that.”

Assistant coach Jeff Hosey, who called the pitches Thursday, said Anderson managed to get ahead in the count consistently in the earlier innings but not as well later on, which he said may have prevented him from a perfect game.

“I just kind of got on him about getting ahead throughout the game. He got on ’em early, but [in the] middle innings, he kind of fell behind a couple guys, ended up getting his pitch count up,” Hosey said. “If he would have got ahead of those guys, he could have had a PG and maybe even knocked 20 pitches off his count.”

Anderson is now focused on becoming a “core player” for Mineral Ridge and helping the Rams, who are now 2-1, continue to win more games.

Both Ragozine and Hosey said they expect big things from Anderson, whose work ethic, wisdom and maturity they say is particularly impressive for a player of his age.

“It’s just the type of kid he is,” Ragozine said. “I don’t think he’s content with where he’s at because I don’t think he’s ever content with what he’s doing.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Preston Byers by email at pbyers@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @PresByers.