Woodbridge senior Matthew Kuromoto throws a no-hitter in PCL win over Irvine

Woodbridge pitcher Matthew Kuromoto had a no-hitter Saturday. (File photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Woodbridge High School senior right-hander Matthew Kuromoto threw a no-hitter in the first game of a Pacific Coast League makeup baseball doubleheader Saturday as the league-leading Warriors defeated Irvine 3-0 at Irvine.

Woodbridge (12-2, 9-1) also won the second game 2-1. It was the first no-hitter for Woodbridge since Jack Bunnell threw one against Loara in 2019.

Both games were makeups of rained out games this week.

Kuromoto struck out 12 to improve his record to 4-1 and lowered his ERA to 0.44. He walked two batters.

“I’m shocked because I’ve never thrown a no-hitter before,” Kuromoto said in a phone interview Saturday night. “I’m very happy and very excited for what I did.”

Kurmoto came close to throwing a no-hitter last year when he went into the sixth inning with a no-hitter against Portola.

“Unfortunately I gave it up, but that was my closest one,” he said.

But he was on from the start Saturday against Irvine.

“My slider was definitely on today,” said Kuromoto, who was presented the game ball by his teammates. “My fastball, I had a little velo (velocity) behind it.”

Kuromoto, who has committed to Chapman University, said his teammates were excited and “everyone was congratulating me.” His mother was there to watch him throw the no-hitter and congratulate him after the game.

“Matthew continues to impress with each outing,” said Woodbridge Coach Ryan Brucker. “He struggled to locate with his fastball early on, but was commanding his off speed extremely well. Once he settled in and got command of all of his pitches, we could tell the possibility was there for him to do something special.

“He attacked the zone, and was able to keep their hitters off balance. I could not be more proud of his effort, and we got some nice plays from the defense behind him. Matthew was the pitcher of the year last year in the PCL, and the truly impressive thing about him is that he’s continued to work to make himself better.

“Being able to complete a no hitter and get a good win, against a quality well coached opponent like Irvine is a big tribute to the work he has put in. We are happy for Matthew and for our team. It was a good day for Woodbridge.”  

Kuromoto said his teammates and pitching coach Greg Foster also helped him.

“I had very good defense behind me and Nolan (Stottlemyer) made some good plays at shortstop and the outfield was making plays,” he said. “My defense really backed me up, Chase Quezada at second base, Nolan Stottlemyer at short, Jake (Amundson) with the big hit (game-winner), helped me out. Coach (Greg) Foster called a good game for me and Anthony DeMarco caught a good game for me.”

Irvine Coach Gabriel Cota praised Kuromoto’s effort.

“He was pretty dominant against us,” Cota said. “We competed well, but didn’t have enough to catch up to them. Sullivan Spivey was great for us throwing 4 2/3 innings with one earned run and four strikeouts.”

Woodbridge was led offensively by Quezada who had a single, walk, run scored and stolen base, DeMarco who had two singles, an RBI and a stolen base and Stottlemyer who had two singles and an RBI.

In the second game, Woodbridge, which was the designated home team, got a strong pitching performance from Amundson, who went 5 1/3 innings to lower his ERA to 0.91 and drove in Jake Haruki with the game-winning run. Justin Durby got two clutch outs for Woodbridge in the sixth and Brandon Abernathy (2-0) got the win striking out two in the seventh inning. Abernathy lowered his ERA to 0.70.

Irvine (4-6, 3-5) got a strong pitching effort in the second game, Cota said.

“The second game Joon Lee was great for us,” Cota said. “He threw 6 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and allowed no earned runs. He was unfortunate to get the loss in a great performance.”

Lee threw a no-hitter earlier this year vs. Laguna Hills.

Spivey led Irvine offensively, going 2 for 2.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com