DELPHOS — Jefferson junior Josh Miller was oh-so-close to a no-hit perfect game Thursday night against cross-town rival St. John’s.

He ended up settling for a 1-hitter in a very effective 76-pitch outing (56 strikes) as the Wildcats bested the Blue Jays 5-0 at Wildcat Field.

“Josh was in command of all his pitches. I usually don’t like to have my pitchers throw more than 70-75 pitches, especially their first start, but to have 76 in seven innings is outstanding,” Wildcat coach Troy Montenery began. “We backed him up with some solid defense and a couple of very good plays in the outfield. The wind was blowing in; there were some hard-hit shots that normally would have gone a long way but not tonight. Both teams had some great plays in the outfield.”

Miller (1-0) did not walk a batter and whiffed six.

“Miller pitched well. We put the ball in play but nothing with any authority,” Jays coach Dan Metzger said. “You want to put the ball in play and not strike out, so that’s a good sign. Now, we just have to swing the bats with confidence, to not be afraid of getting a hard swing and miss. I don’t think we swung at many bad pitches, so that’s also a good sign.”

Unfortunately for St. John’s, the hosts got all the runs they needed in the home half of the first. Starter Brandon Hemker (0-1; 4 frames, 3 hits, 4 earned runs) plunked Damon Joseph on his first pitch. A stolen base and an error on the play put him at third, from where he scored on a line single to right by Sean Fisher. An out later, Hemker committed a balk. Adam Kraning was then hit by a pitch. A wild pitch moved both runners up. A fly ball to left center scored Fisher from third for a 2-0 lead.

The Red and Black got Matt Antalis to third with two down in the second but left him there. Leftfielder Joel Pohlman had earlier robbed Ryan Kortokrax of a hit with a diving grab in short left center.

He would not be able to in the fourth. With one down, Chris Wilkin lined a single up the gut and moved up on a passed ball. Kortokrax then went yard, lining a 2-run shot over the left-field fence for a 4-0 spread.

“We felt coming in that pitching and defense was going to be the strengths of this team. In our first two games, that has been so and we expect that to continue,” Montenery continued. “If we can hit on a consistent basis, we’ll have the complete game. We’ve been hitting so far. This is a big game for the kids playing St. John’s and they enjoy playing them. St. John’s is a young team and I know Dan has them working hard. I’m glad we played them early.”

Jefferson added its final tally in the fifth against freshman reliever Tyler Bergfeld. His first pitch hit Joseph. He stole second, went to third on a fly ball to right by Fisher and scored on an infield hit that ricocheted off Bergfeld’s glove.

"We were better today than yesterday defensively, as we were yesterday from Monday. Taylor Bowersock made an outstanding play in the third (to rob Fisher) and Joel had his,"  Metzger added. “That’s what we’re looking for; daily improvement. Brandon and Tyler didn’t pitch badly overall; they just hurt themselves with a couple of hit batters. Jefferson’s too good to give them ‘free’ base-runners because they run the bases very well, too.”

The only thing really left was whether Miller could finish a perfect game. He got to the last out in the seventh when Bowersock, a lefty, grounded a ball up the middle. Shortstop Schuerman nearly got in position but the ball kicked off his glove into the outfield.

Jefferson junior Ryan Kortokrax gets a high-five from third-base/head coach Troy Montenery after his 2-run homer in the fourth inning versus St. John’s Thursday night. Josh Miller tossed a 1-hitter for the Wildcats in a 5-0 victory.

“Aaron gave it his best attempt; he has the blood on his arm to prove it,” Montenery added.

Both units are back in action tonight (weather permitting): Jefferson is at Parkway and St. John’s at Wayne Trace.