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Mostly Cloudy Special day for Elmont sophomore
Aguilo strikes out 21 in no-hitter
You just never know what’s going to happen when you go to a ballgame.
While young Danny Aguilo has displayed a ton of potential on the diamond, nobody could have predicted the dominant performance he put on at Elmont Memorial High School on April 20.
Aguilo struck out 21 batters and walked just two in a no-hitter to lead the Spartans to a 12-0 win over Hempstead in a Countywide Conference game. The 21 strikeouts tied the state record for a seven-inning outing set by Mike St. Louis of Beekmantown in 1969. St. Louis was a first round selection by the Montreal Expos in the ‘74 amateur entry draft.
Elmont coach Robert Gates was impressed. “Danny had command of all his pitches, and was getting strikeouts with his fastball,” Gates said. “He came to me to tell me that he wanted to stick with the fastball, and just mix in his curve and splitter when needed. We got the video camera out in the middle innings, but I told the guys to preserve the battery, because we might need it for special footage in the seventh. He was brilliant.”
The Spartans put three runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning. With the way Aguilo was bringing it, the outcome of the game was never in doubt. The sophomore right-hander struck out the first 13 batters he faced before surrendering a walk in the top of the fifth.
Despite the fact that the Tigers never put a ball in play, Gates credited the entire team. “After Danny walked the batter, the team rallied around him,” Aguilo said. “He was mad at himself, but they didn’t let him get down. The guys just wanted to keep him loose.”
Aguilo responded by striking out the next seven batters before blowing away the last hitter for his first career no-hitter. The previous record for strikeouts in a game by an Elmont pitcher was 16, set by Ricardo Tross just eight days earlier.
Tross, who was 3-for-3 at the plate, has been Elmont’s best pitcher. The hard-throwing junior is 4-0 on the season, including two wins over Sewanhaka. Tross has also been solid at the plate.
