Baseball: Upper Darby’s Chris Zupito’s first complete game is a no-hitter

UPPER DARBY — Upper Darby’s Chris Zupito has dominated on the mound ever since he was a sophomore. On Monday, in his signature game as a high school baseball player, the senior right-hander left the home crowd in awe.

Better yet, it was his senior day.

Zupito threw a no-hitter in the Royals’ 1-0 victory over Garnet Valley. The All-Delco and North Carolina State commit struck out 13 Jaguars.

Throwing a high-80s fastball, slider and knuckle-curve, Zupito was untouchable. Garnet Valley hitters reached base on two walks, a hit by pitch and one error.

“I’ve had countless one-hitters, but never a no-hitter,” Zupito said. “I was obviously pumped up. Nothing changed for me out there today, I know who I am and I know that this is what I should be doing every outing. This is pretty much what I expect of myself and I don’t expect anything less. It’s obviously an accomplishment and I am very, very grateful for it. It’s really cool and it really hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Zupito’s starts were shortened many times throughout his career due to pitch count restrictions. On Monday he began the seventh inning with 87 pitches and needed only six more to finish the no-no.

“That was the first time he’s thrown a complete game,” Upper Darby coach Tom Carey said. “He’s always fallen short because he strikes too many guys out. There have been times where he’s pitched 6.1 or 6.2 innings, but he never made it to seven. Wouldn’t you know, the one time he gets to seven, he throws a no-hitter. He gets to the sixth all the time, and his strikeout totals are always so high. … I just think his stuff is too good. ”

The Royals (10-8, 9-5 Central League) secured their most wins in a season since at least 2010, which was the last time the team qualified for the District 1 tournament. The Royals were in 11th place in the Class 6A standings prior to Monday’s games, and have a chance to earn a first-round bye.

Zupito is proud to see how far the program has come since he came on board three years ago.

“Before we got here as freshmen (in 2020), we were 1-18 or something like that the year before. It was pretty bad,” Zupito said. “It’s starting to change, which is great. There’s a reason why I came here and stayed here, (to) change it around.”

UD is 9-2 since beginning the season with losses in six of its first eight games. All nine of coach Tom Carey’s starters are seniors. Chris Chung has thrived as the team’s No. 2 starter. The Royals have won five in a row including a 2-1 decision over Strath Haven, which locked up the Central League title Monday.

“The past couple of years there was a lot of stress that I put on myself, thinking I had to do everything on and off the field. And just thinking, you know, if I don’t do well then the whole team won’t do well,” Zupito said. “To finally be able to relax and know that we all have each other’s backs and we are all familly, it’s great. This year has been so different and we have improved a lot as a team.”

Garnet Valley’s Drew Van Horn hit a squibber to third base in the top of fourth inning. It could be argued that Van Horn would’ve legged out a hit either way, but the grounder was clearly misplayed by Jake Kessler, who would redeem later himself at the plate. Van Horn stole second base, but Zupito seemed hellbent on getting him out on the bases. Garnet pitcher Logan Nelson hit a hot shot back to Zupito, who turned and threw Van Horn out trying to take third.

Zupito ran into trouble in the fifth when Eddie Cwiertniewicz walked with one out, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Colin Beelis. Zupito responded by striking out Harrison Moull and Cole Lombardo to retire the side.

Nelson was excellent on the hill for the Jaguars (6-11), the image of a tough-luck loser. He had a perfect game brewing in the fifth inning when Brian Fitzpatrick smashed a double to the gap in left-center field. After Zupito popped out to shortstop, Kessler hit a seeing-eye single up the middle to score Fitzpatrick from second. The only other hit Nelson allowed was a single off the bat of Max Franzini in the sixth inning. Nelson struck out nine in a complete-game loss.