UNION — It wasn’t the first time, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jaylon Buckley threw a complete game no-hitter with 13 strikeouts as Union got past Sebastopol 5-0 on Friday night.

“I just listened to what Coach said, and he told me we were facing a pretty good team,” Buckley said. “I just do what I normally do and just let God’s gift work.”

Buckley (3-2) gave up six walks. According to MaxPreps, the last no-hitter Buckley threw was against Newton in 2019.

“Obviously he was good, and his stuff is really good,” Union coach Joey Ward said. “He still threw a lot of balls tonight, and his pitch count got up. I’m proud of him; he competed hard, and we just have to clean things up.”

Jacob Moore had the Yellowjackets’ (8-5) lone hit, which was a single to right field in the second inning. Moore also had an RBI on a groundout in the fourth inning to give Union a 1-0 lead. 

The Yellowjackets added four runs to extend their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning on a wild pitch, a throwing error that allowed two runs to score and a bases-loaded walk by Buckley.

“We hadn’t played in two weeks, and it showed with our timing off at the plate,” Ward said. “I tell the guys a lot if we pitch and defend you’ll have a chance, and tonight they didn’t defend really well, and we took advantage.”

Jacob Williams (2-2) took the loss on the mound for Sebastopol (5-3).

“I thought our guy on the mound did a really good job, but we unfortunately had a bad break,” Sebastopol coach Craig Martin said. “Heckuva pitcher for Union; he did a great job, and we never took advantage of opportunities when we had runners on base.”