Regarded as the best available punter in Mississippi, Warren Central’s Devon Bell can now add a baseball no-hitter to his athletic accomplishments.

The junior right-hander bedeviled the Vicksburg Gators, facing the minimum 21 batters in a 2-0 no-hitter Friday night at Bazinsky Field. He allowed just two walks, and both runners were retired at second base.

“It was an absolutely outstanding pitching performance,” Warren Central coach Josh Abraham said. “His command was great. He was able to brush some little things off and stay focused.”

Bell said great outings at Bazinsky are nothing new.

“I had a one-hitter here last year at the Governor’s Cup,” Bell said.

This gem, however, was on a much bigger stage in the Division 4-6A opener for both teams. The Vikings (4-3, 1-0) got an early leg up in the division race while the Gators (3-4, 0-1) were left puzzled, especially first-year coach Cody Zumbro.

“Hats off to Devon Bell, he pitched a great game,” Zumbro said. “I was embarrassed with the way we hit the ball. You have to put the ball in play. We made it easy for their defense.”

Bell had to deal with a makeshift defense after starting shortstop Beau Wallace was ejected in the third inning for running into Vicksburg first baseman Keaton Jones.

“I wasn’t going to let that affect me,” Bell said. “I was proud of my defense.”

The Gators only hit two balls hard all night. Both came off the bat of leadoff man Lamar Anthony, and both went to Clayton Ashley in center field. Jonathan Clay had a liner to left in the fourth inning that WC’s Brandon Gates got to as the only other close call.

Bell had six strikeouts and got five ground ball outs, including a double-play ball that erased Taylor Brocato in the second inning after he led off with a walk. Jones, the Gators’ other base-runner, was thrown out on by WC catcher Hunter Austin on an attempted steal in the first inning.

Bell said all of his pitches worked.

“My slider was on and my fastball felt good,” Bell said. “I hit my spots really good.”

Zumbro said his team wasn’t patient enough.

“He challenged us with the fastball and we just fouled it off instead to taking it to the gap like we have been doing,” Zumbro said.

Bell’s no-no over-shadowed a fine performance by the Gators’ Clyde Kendrick, who allowed just three hits and also struck out six.

“Clyde Kendrick pitched well enough to win,” Zumbro said.

Kendrick’s lone mistake led to the only run Bell needed. In the third inning, Bill McRight had reached on a one-out single but was thrown out stealing second.

Instead of one on, the bases were empty for Ashley. Kendrick hung a pitch and Ashley belted it over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth inning, Gates drew a two-out walk. Austin followed with a hard liner to right which the Gators’ Justin Pettway misjudged. It ended up as an RBI triple for Austin that gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

That was all for the scoring — and the hits, for that matter. Vicksburg committed a pair of errors, but no WC runner made it past second base over the final three innings.

In the bottom of seventh, Bell faced the top of Vicksburg’s order. Anthony flied out to deep center, then Jones grounded out to second. Finally, Bell fanned Clay on a 1-2 fastball to finish off the no-hitter and the Vikings’ second big win in as many nights. They defetead Northwest Rankin 5-4 on Thursday.

“We’ve worked hard in overcoming adversity and this group has learned how to play together,” Abraham said.