Kurland no-hits CDS; Berkeley Prep wins fourth-straight
Berkeley Prep junior Rivers Kurland struck out 14 in a no-hitter against Carrollwood Day.
By Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer
TAMPA – Living inside of a no-hitter can cause a range of emotions that can turn destructive in a heartbeat.
Coming off of a one-hit, complete-game effort in his last start, Berkeley Prep lefty Rivers Kurland was making the Carrollwood Day mound his own on Tuesday, striking out the first six batters he faced. Managing his intensity effectively with every pitch and out, Kurland ended up four outs shy of a perfect game, achieving his second high school no-hitter (adding to his five-inning no-hitter against Gainesville in 2023) as the Buccaneers defeated the Patriots, 6-0.
Bucs freshman shortstop Lucas Farrar rifles the ball to first for a third-inning out, helping starter Rivers Kurland retire the first 17 batters he faced.
“It is just the product of having (pitching) coach Jeff (Karstens, a former major leaguer) call a great game, and me and J.B. (catcher Jacob Butler) finally being comfortable,” Kurland said. “In the last three years, I’ve had three catchers so we’ve had some growing pains, but now we are this strong battery. I’m comfortable with him and he seems to be comfortable with me.”
Starting every inning with a “little superstition” by scratching different messages into the dirt “to take my mind off of things, keep the game fun and stay grounded,” Kurland then toed the rubber and dealt.
Carrollwood third baseman Nick Bonollo uncorks a throw on a second-inning chopper.
Leading off with low-90s fastballs that painted the corners for strikes allowed the junior to stretch the plate with all of his pitches and keep batters off-balance. Several batters for CDS (14-4) left the box shaking their heads at Kurland’s offerings as he finished with 14 strikeouts, while only one batted ball left the infield all night.
“I feel that early in games, batters are trying to get a feel for the environment, see how the ball is moving, so they’re taking that first strike. From the first pitch, they’re in a defensive approach,” Kurland explained. “That’s when I’m my most comfortable, so I want to throw that first pitch strike. (Tuesday night,) I think I had my best control of the year.”
CDS second baseman Steven Vargo tosses to first baseman Julian Earle (2) for a first-inning putout.
While Kurland was throwing up zeroes, the offense was doing its best to relieve even more pressure.
Freshman Jett Walters launched a second-inning double to left-centerfield that scored David Parker (leadoff single).
The third inning saw the Bucs (5-9) load the bases with no outs with senior Nolan Metcalf (base hit) scoring on a balk, and sophomore leadoff man Josh Herrmann (reached on an error) coming home on a Kurland sacrifice fly.
Carrollwood Day starting pitcher Logan Mazur allowed five earned runs in six inning of work, striking out six.
Sophomore George Cook blasted a rocket to right-centerfield that rolled to the fence 400 feet away for a two-run inside-the-park home run in the fourth, with Berkeley’s scoring wrapping up on a Parker two-bagger that delivered Jojo Troupe (single) in the fifth.
“George’s homer was pretty cool,” Kurland said. “We hit great, we ran the bases good … this was one of the best games we’ve played this year.”
Berkeley Prep sophomore George Cook strides across home plate to complete his fourth-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run.
Bucs head coach Richie Warren went further: “Nolan’s had a great couple of weeks, Cook has stepped up a lot … all of our young kids had been playing a big role, doing a really nice job lately as they’ve gotten more comfortable and the game has slowed down for them.”
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, a slow infield grounder was mishandled for an error to end the perfect game, but Kurland simply dug down deeper, fanning the final four batters he faced to put a bow on his no-no.
CDS shortstop J.D. Howard has the tag down waiting for Berkeley’s Josh Herrmann to slide in after a seventh-inning pick-off.
“I try to look at it as a 0-0 game the whole time, just to keep the pinpoint and not take my foot off of the gas,” the junior said. “I just think of getting the next out and after that, getting the next out, not thinking of the whole game. That slows my heart rate and I can relax.”
Berkeley third baseman George Cook congratulates Rivers Kurland for his penultimate strikeout as the lefty was one out away from his second high school no-hitter.
With a current four-game winning streak, a Berkeley squad with just three seniors and 13 players that are sophomores or younger may have finally turned a corner.
“We’re continuing to improve,” Warren concluded. “We’re practicing and playing at a good pace as we can’t be lackadaisical and have everything be OK. The kids have been working hard in practice and now that’s translating to us putting together some victories.”
For a Carrollwood squad that had dropped four of its last seven contests after a school-record 11-game win streak, head coach Tony Brewington is looking for some things to change and others stay the same.
“Clean baseball has been our DNA and when you fall into a game like this against a good pitcher you can’t make mistakes (as the Patriots committed two early and costly errors).
“But win or lose, you’ve got to have the same intensity and compete, make (the other team) make plays. We’ve got to find a way to stay in games.”
⚾
Berkeley Prep 6, Carrollwood Day 0
B 012|210|0 – |6|9|1
C 000|000|0 – |0|0|2
W – Kurland; L – L. Mazur
2B – Parker, Walters (B); HR – Cook (B). Records – B (5-9); C (14-4).
