NAMPA — After he finished off the finest performance of his young career, Jason Jones strode up to his dad.

How many pitches did I throw?

Jones figured the number would be around 85. Maybe 90. Marsh Valley’s junior hurler had just twirled a five-inning no-hitter in the Eagles’ 10-0 win over Sugar-Salem Friday evening, good for a spot in Saturday’s 3A state championship game, so surely he had thrown a hefty number of pitches.

Then he heard the answer: 62.

“I guess I was just going with the flow,” Jones said, smiling outside Northwest Nazarene’s park, where Marsh Valley will play either Wesier or Fruitland at 4 p.m. Saturday. “There’s a lot of stuff I don’t think about. I just do it and see what the results are when I’m done.”

In the end, the results looked like so: Five full innings, zero runs, zero walks, one plunking, three strikeouts and, most importantly, zero hits. He beaned the first batter of the game, Ryan Harris. Then he retired 15 straight.

Translation: Jones came one hit batsman away from a perfect game — at the state tournament. It prompted a question: Does he regret it? If he does, he didn’t admit to it. “There’s nothing to be mad about,” he said with a wide grin. “10-0. I don’t know. I have a lot of emotions right now.”

Even in a short conversation, that shone through like the sun through a window. He was thrilled with the win. He knows he has other sizzling outings on his resume, like a 15-strikeout showing — “16 strikeouts, actually,” he said — but this one meant more because it booked the Eagles a spot in the state title game.

They earned the opportunity, in large part, because Jones yielded to his defense when he needed to. In the first frame, center fielder Payton Howe laid out to catch out No. 3. In the fourth, shortstop Karter Howell dove to snare a popup on the infield. But even when the Eagles didn’t make impressive plays, they made routine ones, keeping Jones’ no-hitter intact.

“We always talk about making big plays in big moments. That’s what those two were,” Marsh Valley coach Kent Howell said. “Those are big-time plays. They must have been extremely focused and ready. Very athletic bunch. Very proud of them.”

“Every time it happened, I’d just go crazy,” Jones added. “They’d hit a ball, and I’d turn around and watch it, and I’m like, ooh. Ooh. And then they’d catch it and I wanted to go out there and celebrate with them on the spot. It was awesome.”

But for it to matter, the Eagles needed to do their part at the plate. They had no issues on that front. Daxton Woodmancy delivered a two-run double in the second inning. Howell did the same in the third, handing Marsh Valley a 5-0 lead. They brought 11 men to the plate in the inning, which ended in a 7-0 lead for the Eagles.

Here’s the thing, though: Marsh Valley drew more walks (10) than hits (7). Stanton Howell accepted two intentional walks. The Diggers assumed they could turn those into advantages. They paid for their impudence. All told, the Eagles turned patience into baserunners, then ran the bases wisely, swiping second base when they had a man on third. That’s usually a sound little league approach. On Friday, Marsh Valley used it to book a spot in the state title tilt.

“We like to focus on our running just as much as anything else,” Howell said. “It’s a big part of the game. I was proud of what they did. We always say getting a baserunning out is a huge no-no. But they executed well on times where they had first-and-third, putting pressure on them on the corners, and the boys did a good job.”

The numbers are a tad misleading, though. Seven hits won’t always win you a state tournament game. They will when you take double-digit walks. The final punch came from outfielder Michael Belnap, who used his third hit of the day to drive in the 10th and final run.

For Marsh Valley, that’s when the reality began to set in: Next stop, state championship game. It’s the Eagles’ first trip since 2019, when they captured a title, their first in program history. Now they have a chance to win their second in four years. They are quickly becoming a 3A powerhouse.

The best part for Marsh Valley is the team gets to throw its ace on Saturday, Stanton Howell. The Eagles gambled by pitching their No. 3 and No. 2 arms in these first two games. It has paid off. Now there’s only one thing left to bet on: themselves.