Nutley’s Sean Fealey remembers the last time he threw a no-hitter, and the frustration that came with it. Fealey was 12 years old and despite the no-hitter, his Nutley American Little League team lost the game and the District 8 championship.
“Yeah, I threw a no-hitter in the game for the district championship,” Fealey recalled. “But we ended up losing that game, so it didn’t really matter.”
Now a junior at Nutley High School, Fealey’s latest no-hitter is sure to be remembered a lot more fondly by all involved.
On Thursday, at home against St. Benedict’s, Fealey pitched unquestionably the best game of his young career. Fealey didn’t just no-hit the visiting Gray Bees, he also struck out 14 batters, while walking three and hitting one in the Nutley’s 6-0 victory.
It is believed to be the first seven inning no-hitter in more than two decades thrown by a Maroon Raiders pitcher and makes Fealey, The Observer Athlete of the Week.
“I was just smiling (after the last out), but not trying to get too crazy because it still was the first game,” said Fealey. “I just have to be ready for the rest of the season.”
Fealey’s day got off to an inauspicious start, when he walked the second batter of the game, but the 6-foot-4 right-hander said he started to get into a groove in the second inning.
A six-run bottom of the second inning gave Fealey a significant cushion, especially as his confidence and command on the mound continued to grow.
“I feel like after the second inning, I struck out the side and I felt pretty good after that,” Fealey said, noting that his curveball was especially sharp on Thursday. “And then after the fourth inning, I felt like I was just dealing and I could do good things that day.”
Even as Fealey’s pitch count started to creep up, he remained on point. While the sixth inning was the only one in which he didn’t record a strikeout, Fealey remained in and promptly struck out the side in the top of the seventh to cap off a masterful outing.
“He was in his own element and we had people warming up. We had some people in the sixth inning, we had some people in the seventh and just in case (he got tired),” Nutley head coach Eric Puzio said. “As he came off the field in the sixth inning and I’m like, “Hey, man, you want to finish this? ” And he’s like, “Absolutely.” And honestly, he came out there, same velocity, same drive, same mechanics, nothing changed and he finished it up. It was great.”
“I was feeling really strong,” said Fealey. “I don’t know if that was more adrenaline than anything, but I feel like I put in the work to get just better (late in games), just control my breathing and get better, just get better.”
Last year, as a sophomore, Fealey flashed potential, but ultimately pitched to a 5.46 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 33.1 innings.
Since the conclusion of last season, Fealey grew two inches and gained nearly 15 pounds. Fealey credits that growth for allowing him to add velocity to his fastball. The added size as well as his time on Nutley’s boys basketball team he credits for his improved stamina on the mound.
Fealey said that some of his teammates definitely knew he was working on a no-hitter and gave him the silent treatment in the dugout. But not everyone realized it was a no-hitter, including Puzio.
“After the game was over, I went, ‘Did he throw a no hitter?’ And people were like, ‘Yeah, he threw a no hitter,’” said Puzio. “Honestly, you don’t want to talk about it, but I don’t think people realized because it went so fast.”
And unlike his last no-hitter, this is one, Fealey will be more than happy to talk about as well.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)