His team got the message. Southwestern delivered a statement on Friday.

Supported by 18 runs, including a 12-run fourth inning, Southwestern pitcher Cooper Charles capped off a five-inning no-hitter to put Friday’s game against the Silver Creek/Forestville Black Knights to bed. The visiting Trojans picked up their third Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 victory of the week, 18-0, over the Black Knights at Silver Creek High School.

“It’s pretty cool. I’ve never really done that before,” Charles said of the no-hitter. “I just came out here to get my job done, and I came out of it with a no-hitter.”

Southwestern (8-3, 8-2) wasted no time taking the lead, with a pair of hits in the top of the first inning to score a run. Oscar Harris, the third batter of the game, drove in Wilson Genareo with a single to right field to score the game’s first run. Wilson Genareo got himself in scoring position with a line drive past the shortstop and a stolen base. The Trojans left a pair of runners in scoring position to end the inning, but still had reason to feel comfortable with an early lead.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Southwestern pitcher Cooper Charles delivers a pitch during Friday’s CCAA Division 1 baseball game against Silver Creek/Forestville in Silver Creek. Charles threw a no-hitter in five innings of a mercy rule victory, 18-0.

With the way Cooper Charles looked on Friday, one run was enough. Silver Creek/Forestville (8-6, 6-5) was overmatched at the plate all game long.

“You could see in his body language his mentality. He was going after guys,” said Silver Creek/Forestville head coach Chris VanCheri. “He was getting ahead early with first pitch strikes. A lot of our at-bats today, we started 0-1. It’s really hard to find a way on base when you’re down right away. I was impressed.”

Charles struck out the first two batters he faced swinging. Then, after a two-out walk, he got his counterpart, Hunter Anderson, to strike out looking to end the inning.

He only found more of a rhythm from there. After Lucas Genareo and Wilson Genareo both had run-scoring hits in the second inning to increase the Trojans’ lead to 3-0, Charles responded by striking out the side in the second inning.

“I felt it early. I was hitting my spots pretty well in the first couple innings. I just knew it was going to be good from there,” Charles said.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Silver Creek/Forestville pitcher Hunter Anderson delivers a pitch during Friday’s CCAA Division 1 baseball game against the Southwestern Trojans at Silver Creek High School.

Then in the top of the third inning, Charles helped his own cause with a two-run single to center field. He was down 0-2 in the count with two outs, but battled back and dumped the sixth pitch of the at-bat into shallow center field to score a pair.

In the bottom half of the third inning, Charles struck out the first two batters of the inning. He walked Manny Sanchez with two outs, but responded by striking out Damon Bell swinging at a high fastball out of the zone to end the frame. To that point, Charles struck out 9-of-11 batters he faced.

Five runs of support was plenty, but Southwestern poured it on in the fourth inning with the program’s second double-digit inning of the week in league play. After Monday’s 18-run inning against Fredonia, the Trojans made the Black Knights their latest victim of a massive outburst.

“We definitely have some power in the lineup, and I think it’s showing,” Brown said. “… These guys put a lot of work in. They take pride in working in the offseason, and it’s paying off. Kudos to them.”

Beginning at the top of the order, the Trojans loaded the bases with one out. Then, an error on the infield led to a pair of runs. Five hits brought in runs during the inning, as the Trojans stopped one batter shy of going through the entire order two full times. The Trojans mounted nine hits in the inning to score 12 runs and break open what was a 5-0 game.

“Our team is really good. We have a lot of really good hitters on our team. The top five batters on our team all can hit it out,” Charles said. “They all got my back. They all make plays for me.”

Following a lengthy break because of the offensive outburst, Charles went right back to work once he finally stepped back on the mound.

The Black Knights finally put the ball in play for the first time in the fourth inning, but all three times, the result was not any better. All three batters were sent packing, with a groundout to second, a flyout to center field, and a groundout to third to end the inning.

“Our swings were getting a little long. We were swinging a little bit too big for what we were dealing with,” VanCheri said. “Situationally, he pitched a very good game. The ball was moving. They played good defense behind him when we did put it in play.”

Southwestern added a run in the fifth inning with an RBI single by Rece Card. It kept the streak of the Trojans scoring a run in every inning of the game. By that point the only suspense left in the contest was whether Charles would finish off the no-hitter.

He made it look easy.

The bottom of the fifth inning began with a strikeout looking, then a high popout to first base. Then, with one out left before the mercy rule took effect, Charles finished the game out in style with his 11th strikeout to cap off the victory. He finished with just two walks and 11 strikeouts of the 17 batters he faced.

“He was keeping his fastball down, which was phenomenal, and more importantly, he was using his change-up really well. It had a lot of run on it, diving out of the zone,” Brown said. “To have that with the velocity that he has on the mound, it’s a tough thing to bat against.”

Just like Monday’s 22-2 win over Fredonia, Southwestern dominated another league foe in Silver Creek/Forestville on Friday. What is even more impressive is the final scores make it seem like they are beating up on bad teams. That isn’t the case. The Black Knights entered Friday’s game with four straight wins — sweeps of division foes Salamanca and Fredonia. Before Southwestern beat Fredonia twice this week, the Hillbillies had a record of 7-5 overall, as well.

This week proved that Southwestern is peaking at the right time with playoffs around the corner. Having Charles pitch the game of his life while the offense is firing on all cylinders gives the Trojans even more confidence than ever before.

“We’re a very well put together team. We can go far this year,” Charles said. “We have a lot of energy. … We’re ready.”

The two teams meet again today, at Southwestern, before the Trojans face Salamanca on Monday to wrap up league play. Today’s matchup is the final league game for the Black Knights, who can finish no worse than 6-6 in Division 1.

“We’re peaking at the right time. We’re finally starting to get some good weather with Mother Nature cooperating,” Brown said. “Hopefully we go in (to the playoffs) strong.”