Randy Mazey Congratulates John Means on No-Hitter
On Wednesday evening, former West Virginia hurler John Means tossed a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners, marking the first time an Oriole pitcher threw a complete game no-hitter since Jim Palmer in 1969 versus the Oakland Athletics and the first to do so on the road since the organization first no-hitter in 1912 from Earl Hamilton.
As the West Virginia University baseball team prepared to take on a nationally ranked Pitt program, head coach Randy Mazey and the Mountaineers gazed upon the scoreboard to watch Means complete the no-hitter.
"That was pretty cool," said Mazey. "We got to watch the ninth inning on the scoreboard before the game started and our guys were standing there into it pretty good."
Means faced the minimum and was only a pitch away from a perfect game. In the third inning, a curveball that hit the dirt for strike three got away from catcher Pedro Severino and Sam Haggerty was able to reach first. However, Severino gunned down Haggerty trying to steal second.
"At the time, we thought it was a perfect game because we didn't even know about it till the eighth inning," continued Mazey. "It was pretty cool for our guys to see a Mountaineer on the video board doing something that is super, super hard to do, and everybody's really proud of him."
The Olathe, Kansas native spent his first season in the college ranks at Fort Scott Community College before transferring to WVU for his sophomore and junior seasons where he started 25 career games and earned a record of 10-6, posting a 3.24 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 141.2 innings pitched. He gave up 51 earned runs on 145 hits with 40 walks. Also, earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention in 2014 as a junior before being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles selected him in the 11th round (331st overall).
"He's come so far since he was here with us - he was a great pitcher for us but has really, really developed to what he is right now. All credit to him, he's a tremendous worker and super, super professional approach to everything - I couldn't be happier for 'Meansie'."
Means was called up in September of 2018 and made the roster for opening day the following season. After three appearances, he made it into the rotation and earned a spot in the MLB All-Star Game.
To start the 2021 season, he became the organization's day one starter, has a 4-0 record on the season, and third in the league with a 1.37 ERA.
As for the Mountaineers, they went on to beat No. 16 Pitt 8-2.
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