Chona’s no-no performances set CIF Southern Section record

Ashwin Chona wears his Sage Hill School baseball cap slightly to the right. It’s not on purpose. His head is so small that the cap does not fit him correctly.

“We’d find his size at BabyGap,” Sage Hill Coach Dominic Campeau said with a smile.

Chona’s ideal hat size is a 7, and Campeau has been unable to get a hold of one. The smallest he can order is a 7 1/8, and he bought 10 of those in hopes one would be small enough for Chona.

Chona tried on all 10 and all 10 still aren’t snug enough.

The current size is better than last year’s cap, which Chona had to fold in the back so it would stay on his head. Chona will put on whatever. He just wants to play baseball, and he has a chip on his shoulder when he takes the mound.

“Just growing up like the underdog, like this 5-foot-9 Indian guy,” said Chona, adding that he has been asked, “Why are you playing baseball?”

Because Chona is Indian, he said people thought he should be playing cricket. Cricket is the most popular sport in India, but all you can hear after Chona is done pitching to a batter are crickets.

Chona threw his third straight no-hitter on April 6. He struck out 12 and walked two in a 16-0 win on the road against Downey Calvary Chapel. No one in CIF Southern Section history had tossed three consecutive no-hitters, until Chona.

The sophomore left-hander knows a lot about baseball. His father, Lloyd, introduced the game to him as a kid.

“When he grew up, him and his brothers played baseball, had all the baseball cards in their attic,” said Chona, whose father grew up in Corvallis, Ore.

One of Lloyd’s brothers, Roger, came down from Oregon to watch Chona start at Sage Hill on Thursday. Chona’s mother, Priya, made the game as well against Brethren Christian. She nervously watched as her son tried to become the fourth pitcher in the state to record four no-hitters in a row.

Priya had not seen her son’s previous three no-hitters because she is usually running around and taking care of Chona’s younger brother, Arvin.

Chona knew his family was coming to watch him pitch. He liked his chances of throwing another no-hitter. His teammate, Brett Super, no-hit the same team on the same field on Tuesday.

“After seeing Super dominate the way he did, I feel pretty confident going through those guys,” Chona said. “I was able to see their swings while playing in center field. If I throw my game, I’m sure I’ll get the results I want.”

The no-hitter streak ended right away. It was hard to tell who was more disappointed, Chona or his mom.

When Chona gave up a two-out infield single in the first inning, Priya blamed herself. She thought she jinxed her son by showing up.

“It had nothing to do with that,” said Chona, reassuring his mother. “I threw the pitches over the plate.”

Only two of the pitches Chona fired went for hits. He wound up striking out 10 and walking none in a 10-0 win. The game lasted only five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

That same rule is the reason why Chona went five innings in his second and third no-hit performances. The second one was at home against Menifee Santa Rosa Academy on March 27, when he struck out nine and walked one.

Out of the three no-nos, the outing against Cerritos Whitney on March 20 is Chona’s favorite. Not only did it go the full seven innings, with him striking out 13, walking two and throwing 93 pitches, 65 for strikes, but it also was Sage Hill’s Academy League opener.

Chona got the ball, not Super, a senior who Chona has looked up to since he arrived at Sage Hill as a freshman.

“The friendly competition we have is great. Whatever he can do, I can do better,” said Chona, who is 5-0 with a 0.54 earned-run average, compared to Super’s 6-1 record and 0.63 ERA. “Just having him here [is great]. He’s been through all of this before, and he’s just there to guide me through it.”

The one-two punch of Super and Chona is why Sage Hill has gone 44-2-2 since last year. Super has accounted for 19 of those wins and Chona 17.

Other than the fact that Super is a right-handed pitcher and Chona is a left-hander, they carry themselves the same.

“They don’t have the same stuff, but they look the same as far as composure on the mound. They look so aggressive and confident,” Campeau said. “Super is more fastball. He overpowers hitters and he has that great curveball. Ashwin has pinpoint control. Everything moves and he changes speeds on people.”

The duty of catching Super and Chona belongs to Conner Hatz. He’s having quite the sophomore year, having caught five no-hitters, three by Chona and two by Super.

“He didn’t catch a lot last year. He was the DH,” Campeau said of Hatz. “We’ve been tough on him because the expectation of that position for us is so important. I was a minor league catcher, the same thing with Coach [Mark] Cresse.”

Cresse, the former bullpen coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, calls the pitches.

One pitch Cresse calls often when Chona’s throwing is a changeup. The changeup is Chona’s best pitch, and it has helped him go 17-0 during his time with the Lightning. In 104 innings, he has 150 strikeouts and 31 walks.

Since last season ended with Sage Hill winning the CIF Southern Section Division 6 title, the program’s first in the sport, Chona has been working with trainer Josh Reidt. Other high school players in the area who train with Reidt are Huntington Beach senior standouts Hagen Danner and Nick Pratto, who have signed with UCLA and USC, respectively.

Chona credits Reidt for the increase in the velocity of his fastball. He’s consistently between 83-84 mph. A year ago, the fastball was in the high 70s.

Chona has also worked out with Danner, a right-handed pitcher and catcher, and Pratto, a left-handed pitcher and first baseman.

“When they first saw me, they didn’t think much of me,” said the 155-pound Chona, who is 40 pounds lighter and four inches shorter than Danner and Pratto. “But when they heard about my stats and stuff, they’re like, ‘Where’s this Sage Hill?’ I’m just like, ‘We’re just a small school [with 522 students] in Newport [Coast].’ Pratto and Danner are like, ‘When are you guys going to play a team that we’ve heard of?’”

On Tuesday, Sage Hill (16-1-2 overall) plays host to a team that Danner, Pratto and the Oilers, ranked No. 4 in the country by PerfectGame.org, see three times in Sunset League play.

Super is getting the nod against Newport Harbor in the nonleague game. Chona will start in center field and support Super, who is looking to hold his second straight opponent hitless.

“I can’t wait to play Newport Harbor,” Campeau said. “I’ve been approaching them [about playing us] for like three years. But now they’re at a point where they’re like, ‘Well, they’re legit.’”

Sage Hill is for real, and so is Chona. While his cap isn’t the right size, you have to tip your hat to Chona.

Ashwin Chona

Born: Feb. 26, 2001

Hometown: Irvine

Height: 5-foot-9

Weight: 155 pounds

Sport: Baseball

Year: Sophomore

Coach: Dominic Campeau

Favorite food: Spaghetti

Favorite movie: “Back to the Future”

Favorite athletic moment: “Winning [the] CIF [Southern Section Division 6 title] last year.”

Week in review: Chona threw his third straight no-hitter, setting a CIF Southern Section record, and struck out 12 during Sage Hill’s 16-0 win on the road against Downey Calvary Chapel. Chona also went two for three with a run batted in and two runs.

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Twitter: @ByDCP