It's a ritual almost as old as baseball itself.

When a team's starting pitcher hasn't allowed a hit through the first few innings of a game, his teammates know how to react and what to say to him: They pretend like it isn't happening and say nothing.

That's the philosophy practiced by baseball teams, no matter the level -- lest the well-intended acknowledgement of the no-hitter jinx the pitcher, of course.

Somehow, some way, Langley High School graduate Matt Barnes was able to avoid such a fate when he overcame such a situation last month in a game for the Washington BlueSox of the Tri-State Collegiate Summer League.

"What was really funny about it was I had let in a run in the third inning. A run scored on a walk, an error and then a sacrifice fly," said Barnes of the June 14 game against Pittsburgh Baseball Training Academy.

"My catcher told me in the third inning, he was like, 'I don't think you've given up a hit yet.' Of course, it violated the Golden Rule that he said something, so I said, 'Shut up! Why would you say that?' At that point we were just joking about it.

"Then in the sixth inning, we realized I hadn't given any hits up, so then everybody stopped talking about it. Because of the run, after the game fans were coming up to me asking me why I was so excited. They didn't recognize it was a no-hitter."

The no-hitter was the most glaring example of the kind of summer Barnes, who is 6 feet 2, 185 pounds, had for the BlueSox, who finished the season with a 23-12 record and in second place in the wooden-bat league that attracted some of Western Pennsylvania's top college talent.

"It was one of the better pitching performances I have seen," BlueSox manager Joshua Hayes said. "He's not an overpowering pitcher, but he gets the job done. He gets hitters to roll groundballs, he gets flyball outs at the right time. He finds a way to get it done.

"Sometimes, I'll take that over a guy who throws 95 but doesn't know where it's going."

Barnes, a resident of Crafton Heights, closed the season with a 5-0 record, a 2.25 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched.

His performance with the BlueSox comes after a solid sophomore season at the College of Wooster, where he went 5-2 with a 4.92 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 53 innings for a team that went 36-11 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. His numbers in his freshman campaign were even better: 9-2 with a 2.49 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 72¹/₃ innings.

"Fastball, curve, change -- pretty straightforward," Hayes said. "Nothing crazy, but he throws them all for strikes and keeps the ball down, keeps hitters off-balance. That's what it takes to be effective.

"It's tough to name an ace of the [BlueSox] staff -- this team is made up of some of the best of the best around in the area -- but he's one of my toughest starters. He's been very solid for us."

The BlueSox play their home games at Consol Energy Park, the home of the Washington Wild Things. That's just one example of the alliance the Tri-State league has with the professional Frontier League.

"It's a very good level of competition," said Hayes, who played in the Frontier League. "It's not the [nationally renowned collegiate summer] Cape Cod League or ... anything, but as far as your talent at the collegiate level, I think it's pretty competitive.

"It's a mix; you have all Division I, Division II and Division III guys all kind of mixed together. As far as this region of the country, it's one of the better collegiate leagues."

Leo Trich is owner and general manager of the team, which includes several other players who went to area high schools and/or colleges. The team also has players with no explicit ties to Western Pennsylvania.

The BlueSox will not compete in any postseason tournaments. With players leaving for college, the team wasn't going to have enough bodies to participate.

"It's just nice playing against guys I have heard about growing up," Barnes said.

"It's nice to be in the atmosphere of playing in Frontier League stadiums. It's great exposure, too. It's been a good experience, a good level of competition."

As for that no-hitter, the fact it came during a doubleheader -- meaning it occurred in a seven-inning game instead of a nine-inning contest -- wasn't going to force Barnes to enjoy it less.

"The first two innings of the next game, I didn't allow any hits," Barnes said, laughing. "So I'm counting it as nine innings."