Staff photo / Preston Byers Champion’s Konner Reed delivers a pitch during Friday’s win over Campbell at Bob Cene Park in Struthers.

STRUTHERS — Champion pitcher Konner Reed hurled a no-hitter Friday evening as his Golden Flashes crushed Campbell 21-0 at Bob Cene Park.

Reed befuddled many of the Red Devils, striking out 15 of the 22 batters he faced in his first varsity start.

“He really impressed me,” Champion head coach Andy Barker said. “You start a sophomore, no matter who the opponent is, and you’re worried about walks and things like that. But he did a great job keeping the ball in the zone and keeping the ball down.”

While Champion continued to add to its lead by capitalizing on Campbell’s errors, Reed and his defense kept blanking the Devils.

Reed struck out the side in both the second and third innings and appeared ready to do the same in the fourth when Josue Rodriguez made contact on a pitch and hit it toward the shortstop. The ball bounced off the dirt and then off of the glove, allowing Rodriguez to reach base safely and end Reed’s chances at a perfect game.

Reed responded with a strikeout and retired the side in order in the fifth with two more strikeouts.

“We just had to mix it up a little bit,” Reed said of going through the order multiple times. “We had to throw a little bit more sinker or curveball. Just had to mix it up. Use the zone, get the corners. We had to utilize that more. But I just trusted my coach’s process, load the zone and let my catcher back there call a great game.”

In the sixth, Reed recorded another pair of strikeouts and cleanly fielded a bunt attempt, which, along with the subsequent slide into first base, showed Campbell’s attempt to get a hit and another runner on base.

That would not happen, though, as Reed recorded his 14th and 15th strikeouts en route to the dominant no-hitter, during which he threw only 80 pitches.

As he walked off of the mound, Reed was told he threw a no-hitter, which led to a big smile forming on the sophomore’s face.

Reed said it would have been “Bad voodoo” and the Champion dugout kept him in the dark about his no-hitter.

In between Reed’s appearances on the mound, Champion pulled away at the plate and on the basepaths. The Flashes scored at least one run in each inning until the sixth inning, but they more than made up for it in the seventh.

After a sixth in which neither team reached base, Champion outscored Campbell 12-0 in the final inning.

Carter Boggs got the ball rolling with a leadoff triple, and the Flashes kept it rolling as they made it nearly two times through the batting order in the half-inning.

Campbell, which defeated Springfield in the first part of a season-opening doubleheader, falls to 1-3 on the year with Friday’s defeat. Rodriguez was credited with the loss; he pitched four innings, during which he struck out four and allowed two hits, five walks and two earned runs.

The Red Devils visit Badger on Tuesday.

The win is Champion’s first of the season after losing to Springfield and LaBrae in its first two games.

“The last two games, we didn’t swing the bat,” Barker said. “And to begin this game, I think through three innings, it was a no-hitter both ways. So we just started swinging the bat more freely. And when we do that, we can cause havoc on the bases. … I just think the aggressiveness at the plate, I think we need to find that, and we did that tonight.”

The Flashes host Brookfield on Monday.