Salkeld Records His First No-Hitter

Even Roger Salkeld, the architect of a no-hitter Thursday, needs a little help.

Saugus High’s celebrated right-handed pitcher defeated rival Canyon, 4-2, with the first no-hitter of his high school career in a Golden League game at Canyon. Salkeld managed the feat despite running a slight temperature--the effects of the flu--at game time.

It wasn’t, however, a typical no-hitter. Saugus rallied to score three runs in the top of the seventh and then held off the Cowboys in the bottom of the inning for the victory. The Centurions improved to 19-4-2, 13-2 in league play.

Salkeld, who has pitched six one-hitters, struck out 13 and walked three. The strikeout total gave him 139 for the season, a school record.

“Roger was really throwing hard,” Saugus Coach Doug Worley said. “His fastball was on, and so was his hard curve.”

Canyon, which did not hit a ball out of the infield, scored a run in the second on an error and another in the seventh on a passed ball.

Scott Warr’s sixth home run, a solo shot in the second, accounted for Saugus’ offense until the seventh. In the seventh, Wally White punched a run-scoring single, another run scored on a wild pitch and the third came home on a sacrifice fly.

Saugus’ last no-hitter was pitched by Kevin Miner against Palmdale in 1984. The Centurions lost that game, 1-0. Salkeld, however, would have none of that.

“He’s done it for three years,” Worley said of Salkeld. “It’s really nice to see him get one.”