By Larry N. Souders

Unaka’s ace righthander John Ramsey (18) entered the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night with what could have been his second consecutive no-hitter of the season needing only three outs to achieve it.
But as luck would have it a teammate mentioned it, and the rest was, as they say, history as the Rangers blanked Hampton 4-0 behind Ramsey.
Hampton’s Brett Dalton (4) lead off the seventh inning with a slow dribbler that rolled just behind the mound. Shortstop Blake King (5) charged the ball hard but couldn’t come up with the ball in time to make the play, ending the no-hitter for Ramsey.
After the game, Unaka head coach Tee Blevins had nothing but praise for his ace.
“John Ramsey threw a heck of a game, I think it was a no-no going into the seventh, then a little dribbler gets by in the infield, and that’s how it ends,” said Blevins. “He hit most of his spots, and we had a great defense behind him.”
Ramsey, who is 6-0 on the season said, “ I just came out trying to throw shots and hit my spots, I was battling a little bit of a toe injury, but it was no big deal. We played situational ball; we got some good hitting. We just came out here and played a heck of a game. We played good.”
When asked if knew he had no-hitter going he said, “Unfortunately, yes, my teammates told me. I mean it’s no big deal, that stuff doesn’t matter (the no-hitter), as long as we get the win that’s all I care about.”
The Rangers were up 2-0 after two and Rouse was on cruising until the fourth when he walked Hampton’s Josh Owens (20) and hit Deaton, but ended the inning by striking out Dalton Rouse.
After Dalton led off the seventh, Ramsey got a groundout and a fly out of the next two hitters, ending the game by striking out Elijah Smith.