LIVE OAK — Zane Stephens has been a standout pitcher for a long time, but he had never gotten that elusive no-hitter entering his senior season at Suwannee.     

He now has two in six starts this season.

Stephens no-hit Fernandina Beach on Friday, striking out 11 in Suwannee’s 2-0 victory. He mowed down the Pirates’ hitters quickly, needing just 85 pitches in a game that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

“It feels awesome. It’s the first two no-hitters of my life,” Stephens said. “I started thinking about it in the fifth inning honestly. I was just trying to keep my command good and throw strikes.” 

The hard-throwing righty didn’t have the upper 80’s fastball that he normally features. Stephens said he could tell he wasn’t going to have his normal velocity when he warmed up the bullpen. 

It didn’t matter though. A nasty curveball, well-located fastballs, and a good changeup did the job against a Pirates (11-5) team that came in averaging more than seven runs per game. 

“Whenever you don’t have you best stuff, you focus a lot more,” said SHS coach Justin Bruce. His velocity was down early, but his focus was extraordinary.”

Suwannee scored one run in the first inning and another run in the third. Stephens hit an RBI groundout in the first to score Hueston Morrill, who led off the game with a double.

The Bulldogs put together three consecutive hits to score again in the third. Stephens got the first hit, Blake Tedder followed with a single, and Jackson Greene lined a shot to right-center field for an RBI single.

SHS pitching coach Daniel Tillman said he has been impressed with Stephens and the entire Bulldogs’ pitching staff this season. Opponents are hitting just .160 against SHS. 

“Anytime you have a guy that has a mid to upper 80’s fastball in high school, a game-changing breaking ball, and can throw a changeup for strikes — the other team doesn’t have a chance,” Tillman said. “That’s the biggest thing I saw from Zane tonight was throwing three pitches for strikes.”

Suwannee is 16-2 and will face return to action on Monday with an away game at Columbia.