Warding off any and all hits:

Port Washington High School baseball player Jimmy Ward asked coach Zach Perkins if he should mark an error or a hit in the scorebook on a grounder in the fifth inning against Homestead last Friday.

Perkins thought that was odd. “You know it’s an error. Why are you even asking?” he said.

That was because Ward’s older brother Thomas was finishing a masterpiece on the mound. The senior threw a no-hitter, walking three and striking out five in a five-inning, 15-0 victory.

“I didn’t realize it. Our other coaches didn’t either until the final out was made. The kids did,” Perkins said.

“About five minutes later, I thought back on that question. Oh, that’s why he was asking about his brother. That was pretty fun.”

Ward faced 19 batters and threw 67 pitches.

“Thomas was outstanding. He did a great job controlling his pitches,” Perkins said.

The sophomore worked hard in the offseason, getting his fastball up to 86 mph.

Sophomore Jack Bunyan clocked a three-run homer that Perkins nearly predicted. Bunyan hit a fly ball on a two-strike swing sin his first at-bat that landed about 10 feet short of the fence.

“ I told him if you square one up here on the next at-bat, it’s going to be way over the fence,” Perkins said.

Bunyan’s next hit, he said, landed “pretty close to the parking lot.”

Sophomore Max Webb had three doubles and two RBIs. Austin Johnson had a double and two RBIs. Cash Didier had a double and an RBI. Dawson Dinkel had two hits and two RBIs. Ward added a hit and two RBIs.

Port swept Plymouth last week, first winning, 9-6, on the road on May 12. Port scored four runs in the top of the seventh and held the Panthers scoreless in their half.

Dinkel had a hit and two RBIs. O’Neil Wright had a hit and an RBI, and Jackson Dickson had an RBI. Port walked seven times, got hit by pitches four times and made eight steals. Sam Thompson allowed six runs (three earned), seven hits and two walks while whiffing seven in 5-2/3 innings. Grant Eslinger allowed a hit and whiffed one in 1-1/3 innings.

“We really did not play our brand of baseball,” Perkins said.

Last Thursday, Port won, 11-9, at home. They scored six runs in the first inning and five in the fourth.

Ward had three hits, including a double, and four RBIs. Dickson had three hits, including two doubles, and three RBIs. Johnson had three hits, including two doubles. Dinkel had a hit and an RBI. Dickson allowed four runs, 11 hits and one walk while whiffing five in five innings.

“We were hitting the ball very hard. Just a game where we played better baseball,” Perkins said.

Port lost to Living Word Lutheran, 6-5, at home on Saturday.

Port had the tying runner on third in the seventh with two outs. Dylan Crain drove a ball to right field but it was right at the defender, who made the catch, Perkins said.

Jackson Bergin had three hits and two RBIs. Johnson had three hits, including a double. Ward had a hit and two RBIs. Webb had a double. Eslinger allowed two runs and four walks while striking out two in four innings. Dinkel struck out one in a scoreless inning.

“Hats off to Living Word. Ben Rennicke does a great job with those guys. That’s a really high-level Division 4 team,” Perkins said.

Port, 7-3 in the Glacier Trails Conference and 11-11 overall, was to host Sheboygan South on Tuesday, May 19. The Pirates play at Sheboygan South on Thursday, May 21, host Ozaukee on Friday, May 22, and play at Hartford on Saturday, May 23.