The no-hitter is one of the rarest feats in baseball and Hallsville's Austin Church waited until his senior season to pitch one. It came during the biggest roller-coaster week of his life.

For Church, baseball is more than just a game.

"Baseball is his No. 1 passion," Hallsville baseball coach Barry Koeneke said. "He's always put in the time. Whatever time it is, he loves to compete on the mound."

Baseball is Church's place to compete, but he hasn't just competed on the field. Four years ago, doctors diagnosed his mother Nancy with cancer.

"I came home and there was an answering machine message that said 'Sorry.' I went up to Mom and said, 'What's going on?' and she told me. Just tough, we both kind of broke down," Church said. "She had breast cancer."

Baseball is his escape, an escape from his mom's fight for life.

"It was more than one bout of it [cancer], too, that Nancy had to go through. Austin, I think he felt like this was an escape," Koeneke said.

On April 15, the same day Church signed a scholarship to play at Central Missouri State University, he pitched the first ever no-hitter in his high school career.

"Didn't have his best stuff, we talked about sometimes you just don't have that same thing. You're going to have to find another way to work your way through it," Koeneke said.

"Coach gave me my first game ball and I wrote, 'To: Mom, Love: Austin' and gave it to her in the hospital. So it felt really good to give it to her," Church said.

Three days later, 45-year-old Nancy Church passed away.

"Mentally, it's just been a roller-coaster," Church said. "She just was a tremendous fighter in the way she stayed in there fighting against this cancer," Koeneke said. "I remember after games she'd always come sit down with me," Church said. "After a bad game usually the dads are telling you what you're doing wrong, but she was right in there telling me what I'm doing wrong and everything."

Baseball is Church's gift. On April 30 he pitched again and, with his mom on his mind, he closed out a win against Harrisburg with a pump of his fist. He won this fight and clinched the mid-Missouri Conference Championship for the Indians.

"Oh especially after the game, I kind of looked up for awhile and knew that she watched it all. It was nice," Church said.

Just outside the Hallsville baseball field, a memorial for Nancy is painted on a rock. Baseball is where Church will always be with his mom.

"When she was sick, she couldn't make too many games. I just told him she's never going to miss another game. Now, she'll see them all," Koeneke said.

"My mom, she would not miss a game," Church said. "She would be at every single one. I kind of miss seeing her in the stands, but it's just awesome because I know she's still up there looking down on me and she's still not missing a game."

The Hallsville baseball team has a unique pre game tradition. They all hold a piece of small piece of rope and let a teammate hold the other end. It symbolizes unity and being on the other end for a teammate. And this season it applies to more than just the game.

The Hallsville baseball team plays in one of the state's toughest districts with two-time defending Class Two state champ Blair Oaks as the number one seed. Hallsville won the previous two state titles in 2004 and 2005.