Almost a no-no

The Wild Things' Zach Groh, pictured, was pitching a no-hitter through five innings in the second game of a doubleheader Friday night against the Midwest Sliders. It was only a seven-inning game and Groh appeared as strong, if not stronger, in the fifth inning as he did in the first.

The easy thing for Washington manager Greg Jelks and pitching coach Larry Wayman would have been to let Groh finish the game. He earned it. It was his game. Why shouldn't the rookie right-hander from Reading close it out and take a shot at a no-hitter, something Groh has never thrown at any level of baseball? If he could get six more outs without allowing a hit, it would be a nice memory to look back on years from now.

"I felt strong, like I could keep going," Groh said.

But a rule is a rule, and Groh had reached - even exceeded - his team-imposed maximum pitch count. If Groh had been throwing a perfect game, it wouldn't have changed the coaching staff's thinking.

It was time to take him out, Jelks said. Groh had thrown 84 pitches. His pitch count was set at 70.

Of course, Groh was upset when he was told he was done for the night. He also knew that the pitch count was to protect him, not to stand in the way of his glory.

Groh had pitched only two innings over two appearances since June. He had spent time on injured reserve because of an impingement in his shoulder. He had not thrown more than 30 pitches in a game in more than six weeks.

Groh knows the coaches were simply looking out for him.

"I can't argue with what they did," Groh said.

Chris Rivera replaced Groh and pitched a hitless sixth inning. Midwest's Jonnie Knoble ruined the no-hit bid with a clean double into the left-field corner to open the seventh. Washington settled for a one-hit shutout.

Even without a no-hitter to his credit, Groh raised some questions with his performance. The Wild Things had planned to use a four-man rotation for the remainder of the regular season, but should Groh get another start based on this outing? Groh has made four starts with the Wild Things and taken a no-hitter into the sixth inning in two of them.

"I'll have to talk to the coaches about that," Jelks said. "Groh opened some eyes. We might go to a five-man rotation, or we might move someone from the starting rotation into the bullpen and keep the four-man rotation. We have a lot to discuss because of that tremendous performance by (Groh)."

Groh did tell me that it wasn't the first time he had been taken out of a game while working on a no-hitter. During the summer after his freshman year at Binghamton University, Groh was playing in a sandlot league and had a no-hitter after six innings of a seven-inning game. Groh's coach took him out and brought in a pitcher who had minor-league experience at the Double-A level in the Phillies' system.

"The coach didn't know I had a no-hitter going," Groh said.