For a warmup act to a key Northwestern 4-A Conference game, it was pretty impressive.

Watauga jayvee pitcher Dylan Norris tossed a no-hitter against Alexander Central, striking out nine and walking three in the Pioneers’ 6-0 victory Monday night in a make-up game.

Alexander Central went into the game unbeaten, but slipped to 8-1 after Norris allowed just five base runners. Watauga made two errors.

“I had a good defense backing me up and we got it done,” Norris, who tossed his first no-hitter, said.

“Dylan did a great job,” Watauga jayvee coach Andy Fox said. “We came to a tough place to play today and played well, but Dylan set the tone from the beginning. I didn’t even realize he had a no-hitter. It was news to me because I was calling the pitches and one of my assistants came up to me and said ‘Coach, that was a no-no,’ and I said ‘Oh, my Lord.’ That’s something special right there.”

The closest call came in the fifth inning when an Alexander Central runner reached first base after a throwing error drew the Watauga first baseman off the bag. Norris (2-1) closed out the game with a strikeout, but, like Fox, did not know he had a no-hitter until it was announced by the public address announcer.

“I had no idea,” Norris said. “I just went in there and did the job. Coach kept calling the good pitches and I kept throwing the curveball and I guess I got them out.”

Watauga scored all the runs Norris needed to win the game with a three-run rally in the third inning. The Pioneers added two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth.

They finished with six hits and took advantage of four Alexander Central errors.

Clint Trivette and Ethan Critcher each went 1-for-3 from the plate and each had a double and drove in a run. Max Linnville and Baker Stanley each went 1-for-3 with singles and an RBI.

“My team is a good hitting team,” Norris said. “We take a lot of swings during the week and Coach Fox gets on to us if we’re not hitting well, so we went out there and got the job done.”