Jun 29, 2010 By Josh Herman for The 2 min read

CALIFORNIA – Tom Sparrow fanned 17 batters and took a no-hitter into the ninth inning as he lead California to a 6-1 victory over visiting Point Marion in Fayette American Legion play on Monday. After scoring a run in the third, California added five more runs in the sixth. Matt Bakewell hit a three-run triple and Matt Sabatini added another triple of his own to bolster California’s big inning.

Sparrow threw an endless assault of curve balls that seemed to get better as the game went on.

“I can’t say enough about their pitcher,” said Point Marion coach Dennis Santella. “We just weren’t able to hit, he threw a great game.”

Eric Palmer manned the mound for Point Marion and pitched well. Palmer allowed eight hits in his outing, but took the loss as Sparrow dominated Point Marion’s line-up with his breaking ball.

With a win seemingly out of reach, Point Marion still had the opportunity to play spoiler and they did just that.

Sam Hearn led off the ninth inning, and with two strikes, hit a hard shot up the third base line to break up the no-hitter.

“It was frustrating, but I knew I had to finish the game off,” said Sparrow. “I was hoping to get the shutout and that didn’t happen either, but we got the win and that’s all that matters.”

Hearn later scored in the inning as Cory Hoone accounted for Point Marion’s only RBI on a groundout.

“I was really proud of Sam to get up there and get a hit,” said Santella.

Both squads return to action on Wednesday. California looks to add another win against Connellsville, while Point Marion will try to bounce back as they play host to Belle Vernon.