Yes! Yes! El Camino pitcher Zane Nordquist makes CIF San Diego Section baseball history with back-to-back no-hitters

One pitch. One full-count fastball stood between El Camino High School left-hander Zane Nordquist and something that has never been done in the history of the CIF San Diego Section — back-to-back no-hitters.

Nordquist delivered a fastball for strike three Tuesday, giving a 15-strikeout no-hitter over Escondido.

In the start before, the junior fanned 19 Valley Center batters in no-hitting the Jaguars.

“I had reached my pitch limit,” Nordquist said of the CIF’s mandated 110-pitch top end. “That was going to be my last batter, my last pitch.

“A complete-game no-hitter sounds a whole lot better than 6 2/3 innings and turning the game over to the bullpen.”

El Camino beat Valley Center 10-1 and Escondido 6-1.

An error cost him Nordquist an unearned run vs. Valley Center. Walks and a hit batter cost him a run vs. Escondido.

Nordquist needed 94 pitches to beat Valley Center, 112 to beat Escondido. National Federation rules allow pitchers to go past the 110-pitch limit if they start the last hitter before hitting the limit.

The CIF record book lists two pitchers — Jared Garewal of Holtville in 1994 and Trevor Elliott of Mountain Empire in 2018 — as throwing three no-hitters in a season.

The record book lists nine other pitchers with throwing two no-hitters in a season — a group that includes El Capitan’s Jeff Byrd, who played in the major leagues; Mission Bay’s Rusty Filter, who is now the head baseball coach at Santa Clara; and Brendan Hause of Mira Mesa, the CIF Player of the Year in 1992.

None of them threw back-to-back no-hitters.

Nordquist has gone 14 innings without allowing a hit, putting him eight shy of the CIF San Diego Section record of 22 by Jeremiah Luster of Oceanside in 2004.

Norquist figures to get tested Monday when El Camino, 16-7 and leading the Valley League with a 7-2 record, travels to play No. 4 St. Augustine (17-3).

“Zane’s going to be a day short on rest, but we don’t have a league game next week, and he deserves a chance to face one of the best teams in the county,” said El Camino coach Ricky Imperiali. “Zane has been my best pitcher the last two years. Honest, he’s the real deal.”

El Camino pitcher Zane Nordquist, front, stands with his teammates during Wednesday’s practice.

(Hayne Palmour IV/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Nordquist started the season slow, missing three weeks with a disc problem in his back. His first start was a complete-game one-hitter vs. Vista.

“And he has been dominant since then,” Imperiali said.

Nordquist had 13 strikeouts against Vista, 10 in his next start against Ramona, 10 vs. Mission Vista, 19 vs. Valley Center and 15 against Escondido.

He has allowed just 12 hits in 35 innings while walking 20 and striking out 70.

His record is 3-3. His ERA is 1.20.

Standing 5-foot-11, Nordquist’s fastball sits in the mid-80s and tops out at 87 mph. Last summer, his fastball sat at 80-81 mph.

It’s his knuckle-curve, a pitch that breaks 12-to-6 on the clock and Imperiali calls Clayton Kershaw-esqe, that is Norquist’s best pitch.

“I don’t call it a Kershaw curve,” said El Camino senior catcher Darren Lopez. “I call it ‘The Nordquist Curve.’

“It’s lethal, especially when he’s throwing his two-seamer away. He has great control with his heater. And he’s so calm. It’s like the mound is his home.”

El Camino pitcher Zane Nordquist shows how he holds his knuckle-curve.

(Hayne Palmour IV/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Norquist, who has verbally committed to San Diego State, said he learned the knuckle curve at age 8 from a friend’s father.

“It took me a while to master it, but once I did, it has been my go-to pitch,” said Nordquist, who hits in the leadoff spot and plays center field when he isn’t pitching. “I throw it like a fastball, so there is less stress on my arm.”

Following baseball tradition, Nordquist’s El Camino teammates kept quiet during the first no-hitter.

“Before the second game, I asked the guys, ‘Have you ever seen two no-hitters in row?’” Nordquist said “I was having a little fun with it, never thinking it could happen.”

But it did. And now the CIF record book needs to be rewritten.