UB's Dakota Edwards Fires No-Hitter In 2015 NECBL Debut

Sanford, Maine -This year's NECBL All-Star game will be held at Goodall Park, in Sanford, Maine.

Last night, in his NECBL debut at Goodall, North Adams righty Dakota Edwards (U. of Bridgeport/Turlock, Calif.) gave notice that he would like to play in that game.

Edwards, who only joined North Adams on Thursday, threw a no-hitter in the SteepleCats' 1-0 win over Sanford on Saturday night.  Edwards struck out six, walked only two and needed just 108 pitches to complete the masterpiece.

Unofficially, it is the greatest start to an NECBL career in the New England League's history.

It was the first NECBL no-hitter since 2012 and North Adams' first no-no since 2007.  It ironically came on the same day that Washington National Max Scherzer tossed a no-hitter in the Big Leagues.

NECBL.com caught up with Edwards just after the game:

NECBL.com: What was working for you tonight?

Dakota Edwards: Everything was working for me.  I had the two and the four seamers going.  The change-up was working well.  The slider had great movement.  All pitches were on for me tonight.

NECBL.com: Walk us through what you were thinking about on the mound.  Did you know you had a no-hitter going?  How did you stay within yourself and not get too excited?

DE: Everyone knew going into around the seventh inning that I had a no-hitter going but to be honest with you, I didn't really notice it until around the eighth inning.  Once I did notice, I thought 'I have to settle down.  I have to keep throwing strikes and get ahead of hitters.'  Staying composed out there- not letting the emotions get to me- was key tonight.  I stayed within.  I let my pitches and defense behind me do the work and we got the win.

NECBL.com: It's uncommon to throw nine full innings nowadays.  Were you getting tired out there?

DE: I didn't start really getting tired until the ninth inning.  I was a using a lot of my legs and a lot of my core to get it over.  All of my velocity just came naturally tonight.  There wasn't any real exertion on my body.  I still feel great and probably could have thrown another 20 to 30 pitches.

NECBL.com: Did you have any goals when you joined the SteepleCats?

DE: I'm coming off of an Achilles tear from my previous season at the University of Bridgeport so for me, it's really just getting back out there and getting a feel for how I used to be before the tear.  My personal goal was to get back into the swing of things and to start off like this is just a surreal moment.  (Note: Edwards threw a fine freshman campaign at Bridgeport, posting a 2.68 ERA in 10 starts.  He was only able to make three starts for his school in 2015.)

NECBL.com: You're from the Central Valley in California.  Bridgeport is a unique college choice for someone from your area.  How did you end up in New England?

DE: Assistant coach Parrow from the University of Bridgeport saw me pitch in Georgia and gave me a call.  The whole surrounding area and the college really attracted me there.  I love it.

NECBL.com: So how did you celebrate when the final out was in the books?

DE: Again, it was a surreal moment for me.  I got the final strikeout and everyone came pouring out and met at the mound, gave me a hug and there was a little dog pile.

Story Provided By NECBL Media Relations