'Wolves' Grife pitches no-hitter

FLORENCE — With the count sitting at 1-2, Florence’s Steve Grife stood on the mound, took a deep breath and stared down Fayetteville’s Jason King.
Not knowing — or even caring — about what he was destined to accomplish, Grife drew back and fired a 95-mph fastball through the humid air past King for the final out of his first career no-hitter, a 4-0 win against the SwampDogs on Sunday at Legion Field.
“I was one out from a perfect game (at Mercyhurst), and a kid got a hit off me,” said Grife, who finished with 12 strikeouts and four walks en route a 2-0 start. “It feels great to throw a no-hitter, but it was a hot day and it took a lot out of me.”
“He was absolutely phenomenal today,” RedWolves coach Wes Davis said. “Steve has lived up to every expectation we had today. His fastball and curveball were definitely on.”
Throughout the game, Fayetteville (7-4) tried to get something — anything — going in the 95-plus degree temperatures against Grife. Working with battery-mate Myckie Lugbauer, the right-hander quieted every SwampDog bat to the delight of a capacity crowd at Legion Field.
Grife’s pitching performance was the first no-hitter in the Coastal Plain League this season. It is also the third straight season a RedWolves’ pitcher has tossed a no-no.
John Mang tossed one in 2006 and Brian Espersen did the deed last season. Coincidentally, all three hurlers hail from Mercyhurst.
“It was so hot out here, I just wanted to get through seven innings,” Grife said. “But no one said anything to me about my game. I just went out and pitched.”
“He had everything working for him,” said Lugbauer, who went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead Florence. “I could call any pitch, and he would get across the plate for strikes.”
Grife couldn’t have gotten it done without help from his defense. Keegan Morrow made two highlight-reel catches in centerfield, and Francis Marion’s Keon Graves picked up a couple of hard grounders at third.
“Fayetteville’s got some great hitters that have hit us well in the past,” said Davis, whose team is now 3-0 against the SwampDogs this year. “Thanks to Steve and some great defense, we shut them down tonight.”
As it has done in the first two games against the SwampDogs, Florence (6-2) plated two runs in the bottom of the third inning by taking advantage of Fayetteville’s defense. With runners on second and third base, catcher David Smeltzer couldn’t handle a Tony Davis fastball. Morrow scored on the passed ball, and Florence took a 1-0 lead.
Barrett Kleinknecht then drove home Jamie Walczak with a groundout to short, increasing the lead to 2-0.
Davis (0-1) allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits in 2 2/3 innings. The left-hander fanned one batter and walked one.
Another Fayetteville error led to another run for Florence in the fourth inning. With two out, Herman Petzold grounded to first baseman Kevin McKague, who bounced his throw to pitcher Patrick Ball.
Graves scored from second on the SwampDogs’ CPL-leading 27th error to give the RedWolves a 3-0 advantage.
The RedWolves utilized some small ball to give Grife another run in the sixth. Seth Kivett doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Graves and scored on a Petzold single to give Florence a 4-0 lead.