If Hampshire’s Anthony Karbowski didn’t know what was going on Friday afternoon, Burlington Central catcher Jake Johnson was more than happy to tell him.
The Whip-Purs were in complete control, leading by seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the junior pitcher stepped into the batter’s box for his turn to hit.
“When I went to the plate, Jake let me know,” Karbowski said. “He’s like, ‘By the way, you have a no-hitter.’ I was like, ‘Thanks for telling me.’”
Karbowski wound up going 6 2/3 innings with that no-hitter before reaching his pitch count of 105.
The Rockets then put forth a fierce rally, scoring six runs after being down to their last out, but Hampshire still pulled out the 7-6 Fox Valley Conference victory.
A Louisville recruit, Karbowski struck out three and walked six in 6 2/3 innings while allowing an unearned run on no hits.
Ari Fivelson went 4-for-4 with three runs and an RBI to lead Hampshire (20-6, 10-4). Wilson Wemhoff followed at 3-for-4 with two runs, a triple, a home run and four RBIs.
Brady Gilroy hit a grand slam in the seventh for Burlington Central (16-8, 10-5). Solomon Her added a two-run single.
Karbowski relied on his defense to improve his record this season to 2-0 with an 0.88 ERA. Senior shortstop Dominic Borecky was particularly involved, recording nine putouts.
“I was having a great day location-wise,” Karbowski said. “You have to keep your pitch count down. When I can throw it over the plate and trust my defense is going to make the play, it makes a huge difference.”
While the Rockets couldn’t square up anything, Karbowski still kept innings alive with walks. Two of them came with two outs, however, and he also induced a double play to erase another one.
“Yeah, he had a few walks,” Hampshire coach Frank Simoncelli said. “He attacked, and that’s what you do. You attack, trust your defense and good things happen. I’m proud of him. He battled.
“He was one away from a no-hitter. If he had a 106th pitch, maybe that was it. He did a great job.”
After Karbowski was lifted, the Rockets mounted a furious comeback. They left the bases loaded at the end of the game.
“It was exciting there at the end,” Burlington Central coach Kyle Nelson said. “Obviously, we would have liked to have scraped something across earlier, but (Karbowski) threw the ball well.
“It just seemed like we had trouble getting underneath the ball a little bit. We were on top of everything.”
Karbowski has had a spotlight on him ever since committing to Louisville in October 2022. He knew what a commitment like that would bring, and he was ready for it.
“There’s definitely pressure,” Karbowski said. “Personally, I don’t let it get to me. It motivates me at this point, especially being on varsity since freshman year.
“I’ve gotten it my whole Hampshire career. It motivates me in the offseason to prove to these kids who I am. It’s showing at this point.”
Simoncelli is proud of how the 6-foot-3 lefty has handled the external pressure.
“He’s a mentally tough kid,” Simoncelli said. “You get those Louisville chants. It’s kind of calmed down this year because he’s shown that he has a great arm, has great pitches. He’s a competitor.
“I think that pressure right now is off of him. He wants to play baseball and have some fun.”
The bigger the game, the more Karbowski said he rises to the occasion. Getting into a rhythm more consistently in games where there isn’t that juice is his new motivation.
“I feed off it,” Karbowski said. “My best games are when teams are talking. When they’re coming at me and I can feed off of it and give it right back, that’s when I find my rhythm.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
