04/11 - 12:00 AM Baseball Final Central Regional 1 Barnegat 0 Complete Box Score »

Jason Groome, the potential No. 1 pick in this June's MLB First-Year Player Draft, had hit his 70-pitch limit in the sixth inning while carrying a no-hitter Monday in Barnegat's game against Central Regional.



"I'm no dope. I knew what was going on," Barnegat head coach Dan McCoy said. "He was at 72 pitches after six innings and I asked him, 'What do you want to do?'



"He said, 'I want to finish.' I said, 'Well, go get them.' That's pretty much the extent of the conversation."

MORE: Groome's 19 Ks beg question: Who owns N.J. record for strikeouts?

Groome, who is the top-ranked draft eligible prospect by Baseball America, threw his first no-hitter of the season in just his second start when he struck out 19 batters to lead Barnegat, No. 4 in the NJ.com Top 20, to a 6-0 victory over Central Regional in Barnegat.

The state record for strikeouts in a seven-inning game is believed to be held by Willie Krajnik, who struck out 20 while pitching for St. Mary (Ruth.) in a game against Weehawken on April 8, 2013.

Groome threw 91 pitches.

"If I had to guess, 60 of them were strikes," McCoy said.

The senior left-hander struck out the side in the first and second innings. After getting the first out of the fourth inning on a pop out, Groome struck out the final 11 batters he faced. He has fanned 29 of the 33 hitters he has faced in two starts this season.

RELATED: The Groome report

"He walked one guy and then picked him off," McCoy said. "He was responsible for 20 of the 21 outs. He had command and the curveball was sharp. It was a good day."

McCoy said the 91-pitch effort does not change the plan for the rest of the week. Groome will still make the start Saturday night when Barnegat plays No. 10 Red Bank Catholic at Count Basie Park in Red Bank.

"Nothing changes," McCoy said. "I hope we can get the same kind of pitch count. It will be fun."

Jared Kacso went 4-for-4 with three doubles, three RBI and two runs. Kacso, an NJIT commit, opened the scoring with a RBI double in the bottom of the first inning then came around to score on an error.

Barnegat plated four runs in the fourth inning to break the game open, with the big hit a two-run double by Kacso.

Jason Bernstein contributed to this report

Joe Zedalis may be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephzedalis. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.