Claremont High School pitcher Brenden Argomaniz worked hard on his consistency during the off-season. That certainly paid off as the senior pitched a no hitter on Monday as the Pack ran over visiting Arroyo High School, 17-0.

No hitters are more rare in high school because hitters tend to be farther along in their development as players. CHS Athletic Director Rick Dutton could not recall the last time one happened in Claremont. “We don’t throw one every year, that is for sure,” he said.

Argomaniz has a very strong arm, and he approached the game with confidence, adding seven strikeouts to his stats. Two walks and a throwing error in the seventh inning prevented him from having a very rare perfect game, which has happened just 23 times in the history of Major League Baseball.

“It felt great,” Argomaniz said about his no hitter. “I have been working all off season to get my timing right, I was just trying to throw strikes and keep the ball low. Even though my performance reflects my work in the off-season, the work does not stop. I am trying to treat every game the same.”

“I put a lot of pressure on him [Argomaniz] to meet or exceed, and he has just completely exceeded all expectations. This was an excellent outing but his outings before have been just as good,” Coach Ron LaChase said.

Claremont scored a run in almost every inning, topped the second inning when they really pulled out all of the stops with 10 runs. It was a bit of a baseball cornucopia with wild pitches, stolen bases, three errors, two pitchers and six hits.

In all, 12 Claremont boys scored at least one run with senior Matt Hohn getting three. Eight boys combined for 12 hits with three of them—Hohn, Wyatt Coates and Kyle Scalmanini—were perfect from the plate.

It was also a surprise to see basketball standout Scalmanini on the roster, but Coach LaChase said the he played baseball as a sophomore in 2015. On Monday he made his presence felt with two hits, including a triple, and four RBIs while playing first base.

“He is a natural athlete with very good hands in the infield,” Coach LaChase said about Scalmanini. “He is such a great kid, I told him he could come back anytime. I am so glad to have him come out here again and help the team out.”

Other pitchers to watch this year include juniors Andrew Beauvais and Jack Noble. Beauvais has also turned the corner, gaining maturity and game experience and he threw well Saturday night against San Dimas, according to Coach LaChase. Noble has committed to the University of Oregon but is out for now with a broken hand.

“We as a coaching staff put a lot of pressure on our pitchers to perform. We do a lot of things under the microscope as we raise the bar we want them to reach that bar,” he said.

Coach LaChase feels the Pack will be competitive this year with a 3-3 record early on. He points out that two of the losses were by a single run. Claremont got a 5-1 win against San Dimas on Saturday, but the Arroyo game gave the coaching staff a chance to rotate in more players. “This one felt good, particularly having a little distance in the score, to get everyone in the game and do some of the stuff we have been working on,” he said.

Palomares League is shaping up to be one of the toughest leagues in the southern section according to Coach LaChase. “We are going to have to compete. We can’t let down at any point. There is great pitching, great defense and hitters on all six teams in the league. So it’s just going to be whoever makes the mistakes or doesn’t have the pitching that day who will not come out on the winning end,” he said.

Claremont lost a game on Wednesday to Walnut, 9-2, as part of the Frozen Ropes tournament. The Pack has a number of games lined up including their first league game against Glendora on Friday in Glendora.

—Steven Felschundneff

steven@claremont-courier.com