Before Division senior pitcher Christian Varela put his head on the pillow on the eve of Game 2 of the Nassau Class AA baseball championship series, he received a text message from his coach Tom Tuttle. Tuttle sent Varela a couple photos of then-Blue Dragons pitcher James Varela, Christian’s older brother, after Division had won the 2015 county title — one with James’ hands in the air and the other of the team throwing water in celebratory fashion. The message that followed read: “This is what Varela brothers do.
” Well, how about Sunday for an encore? Varela tossed a no-hitter — his first at any level — to give No. 6 Division a 2-0 win over No. 2 Bellmore JFK and its second straight county crown.
The righty struck out five and walked four on 86 pitches at Farmingdale State. “My brother texted me yesterday, ‘Hey, nine years ago today I threw a complete-game shutout in the counties, Game 2, to win it,’” Varela said. “And it was for the two-peat, which is a coincidence.
It’s funny.”Said Tuttle: “I’ve never seen a no-hitter complete game in a county final, and I’ve been around high school baseball 26 years.” Division (22-5) claimed its 17th county championship after winning Class A last year and its first consecutive titles since 2014-15.
It will face Hauppauge at 6 p.m. Saturday at Farmingdale State in search of its first Long Island title since 2015.
CHRISTIAN VARELA COMPLETES THE NO-HITTER! Division is your county champion. pic.twitter.
com/n.
