NINE IS ENOUGH AS EAST NO-HITS WEST IN MILLIGAN EAST 7, WEST 0.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

Jason Glushon knows the rule. Talking about a no-hitter in progress is a no-no. But by the fourth inning, Glushon couldn't resist and others soon joined in as the possibility of a no-hitter became a popular topic of discussion in both dugouts during Saturday's 27th annual Daily News Bernie Milligan All-Star Game.

But no amount of no-hit talk could spoil the day for the East. Instead, it was the West batters who appeared jinxed as nine East pitchers combined to throw the first no-hitter in Milligan Game history en route to a 7-0 victory at Birmingham High of Lake Balboa. The victory also ended a streak of five consecutive West wins.

``The fourth inning, I looked up at the scoreboard and saw they still didn't have any hits,'' said Glushon, a right-hander from Harvard-Westlake of Studio City who pitched the first inning for the East. ``I said, `hey it's a no-hitter.' I know you aren't supposed to talk about it, it's bad luck. But I didn't really think it'd happen anyway. There are some good hitters on that team.''

The West featured 15 players who batted at least .400 during the high school season, but a few spectacular defensive plays and a lot of dominant pitching left them shut out. The East staff combined for 10 strikeouts.

Hart of Newhall left-hander Kyle Boggio was named the game's MVP for pitching the ninth inning as well as providing the biggest offensive blow with a three-run homer in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.

Between Glushon's and Boggio's perfect innings on the mound were an inning apiece by East pitchers Mike Diaz from Burroughs of Burbank, Jason Cable of Palmdale, Scott Sistilli from Alemany of Mission Hills, Erick Melara of North Hollywood, Aaron Feterl from Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta, Chris Palma of Sylmar, and Max Hibbs of La Canada. Diaz, Cable and Palma each had two strikeouts.

``Every game, I always go out there trying to throw a perfect game,'' said Glushon, who a week earlier was on the losing end of a three-hitter in the Southern Section Div. III final. ``If you lose the perfect game, then it's the no-hitter, then a shutout, then just a win. We stopped at the no-hitter this time.''

A one-out walk to Agoura's Chad Martinson in the second inning ended chances of a perfect game, but the no-hit bid wasn't threatened until the fourth inning, when a diving catch by Quartz Hill's Joey Becker in center field was needed to rob Chaminade of West Hills' Matt Hynick of a hit. The next batter, Chatsworth's Brett Munster, was hit by a pitch, but Westlake's Cody Cipriano followed with a hard line drive to shortstop that went for an inning-ending double play.

The next time the no-hitter was in question was in the seventh inning when Newbury Park's Cody Collet hit a grounder that got past second baseman Pedro Montero of San Fernando, who hadn't made an error all season.

``They didn't put the error up on the board at first,'' said East co-coach Armando Gomez of San Fernando. ``We were waiting and waiting. As soon as they put up the error we were all jumping up and down in the dugout.

``This is amazing.''

The East had plenty to cheer about from the start. Hart's Chris Valaika, who finished 2 for 2, opened the game with a single. He scored three batters later on a fly to center by Harvard-Westlake's Brennan Boesch, who finished with two RBI.

The East was up 3-0 by the time Calabasas right-hander John Henry Jacobs replaced West starter Bret Montgomery of Thousand Oaks in the third inning. Jacobs and fellow Calabasas pitcher Kevin Cohn, who threw a scoreless sixth, pitched the only two hitless innings for the West.

``There's some great guys on that team,'' Boggio said. ``It just wasn't their day.''

Heather Gripp, [phone]

heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

From left: The East's Jason Glushon, Mike Diaz, Jason Cable, Scott Sistilli, Erick Melara, Aaron Feterl, Chris Palma, Max Hibbs and Kyle Boggio combined to throw a no-hitter in the Bernie Milligan game.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer