North Parkland's Evan McAndrew fired his second straight no-hitter in a 14-0 win over Emmaus Tuesday night. His first no-hitter came last Thursday in a 4-0 win over Fullerton and was a full seven inning no-hitter, unlike his latest, which was shortened to five innings by the league's mercy rule.

The Buffaloes have clinched the top spot in the league, moving to a 15-8 record with their win over Emmaus. In their last five games, pitching has been the constant story line, with North Parkland allowing just four runs in their last five games, three of which have been shutout wins, including the two by McAndrew.

McAndrew looked strong enough to have pitched much deeper into the game, striking out the final three hitters he faced against Emmaus, giving him seven strikeouts in the game. The only blemishes were two walks that he issued, with just one of those runners reaching second on a sacrifice bunt. While it would have been fun to watch McAndrew try to go the full seven innings, he wasn't worried about how far he might go and was enjoying watching his teammates come alive with the bats.

"We've been struggling a little with hitting, but we came through today, so it didn't bother me," said McAndrew, who will be a senior at Parkland in the fall. "I knew that if we kept hitting and I kept pitching well, we'd win and that's what I was concentrating on."

Obviously, McAndrew was throwing well in both games, but the other constant in the two games was that McAndrew's lifetime friend, Danny Zaccaro, was behind the plate for both of the no-hitters.

"I've got a good catcher behind the plate in Danny Zaccaro," said McAndrew. "He holds the spot really well and he knows what to call for me. We've been good friends for years, so we know each other really well and work together really well."

Zaccaro was impressed with McAndrew in both games and is used to seeing just how good his buddy can be. After all, he's spent a lot of time on the other end of McAndrew's pitches.

"We've been friends for basically our whole lives and we've played different sports together," said Zaccaro. "I've been catching him since I was in fifth or sixth grade. He has very good location, very good speed, good off-speed and he spotted his pitches very well."

Having Zaccaro behind the plate has helped McAndrew, but having quality pitches to throw is obviously a main component. Against Emmaus, McAndrew moved the ball around the zone and mixed his pitches well. Certainly, having a bunch of runs to work with made things easier on McAndrew.

"My fastball was working and I threw the change-up a couple times for key strikeouts," he said. "I was able to throw my curve for strikes, too."

With the pitching dominating and the offense showing the potential to put up some nice run totals, things look bright for North Parkland as the playoffs approach.

Their 14 runs against Emmaus were partially a result of sloppy play by the Hornets, who made 10 errors in the game, but there was no denying that North Parkland hitters were putting good wood on the ball.

"Offensively, we were a little rough in the beginning of the season, but we're coming around," said Zaccaro. "We're hitting the ball hard and getting deeper into counts."

Against the Hornets, North Parkland pounded out 15 hits, with both Zaccaro and Aidan Flynn picking up three hits for their team. Tanner Stufflet had two hits in the game for the Buffaloes.

The Buffaloes wrap up their regular season tonight against Northern Valley and open the double-elimination playoff tournament next Wednesday. Eight of the nine teams in the league qualify for the tournament and right now, it looks like Salisbury will be left on the outside looking in after the regular season. The Falcons haven't been mathematically eliminated and either West Allentown or Emmaus could wind up in the bottom spot of the league when all is said and done.