Not only did the Cavaliers suffer their third shutout loss this season — falling 1-0 in eight innings to Albemarle in the Cliff Peeler Classic — they failed to get a hit against winning pitcher Monty Fast.

“I can’t recall the last time a team won a game without hitting the ball out of the infield,” complained North coach Bill Kesler. “Not unless the other team gives it to you. And Albemarle, they’re too good to give one away.”

Fast, a sidearming southpaw who threw between 73 and 77 miles-per-hour, didn’t exactly overpower the Cavs (15-5). But he struck out 15 batters and retired 14 of 15 North hitters between the third and eighth innings.

“The key, as always, was getting ahead and throwing strikes,” said Fast (8-0), a senior who had three distinct pitches working. “I struggled early to find the strike zone. But by the fourth inning I settled down and just went after them.”

He went through the Cavs like General Sherman through Atlanta. If anything, he was guilty of being somewhat erratic, walking five batters and hitting two.

“He didn’t have anything we hadn’t seen before,” said North catcher Brad Canipe. “And certainly nothing we hadn’t hit. He wasn’t overpowering. He wasn’t dead-on accurate. We just couldn’t hit what he had today.”

The hard-luck loser for North was senior lefthander Daniel Moore (6-2), who allowed only four hits and struck out 16. He brought a two-hitter into the final inning, when Albemarle’s E.J. Wall slashed a one-out double to the left-field fence and scored on teammate Bryce Kimery’s two-out single to right.

“It’s never a wasted performance if you pitch well,” said Moore, who entertained a small cadre of pro scouts huddled in the grandstand. “If anything, our team learned something today. Just because I’m pitching, that doesn’t guarantee anything. It doesn’t mean we’re automatically going to win. I’m not a one-man show.”

That’s typical humblespeak from Moore, who once again was a master moundsman. He used a fastball clocked in high-80’s to stay out of harm’s way, fanning at least two batters in every inning except the third.

“He kept us in the game,” said Canipe. “When you don’t hit the ball, you need great pitching and that’s what Daniel gave us today. He was definitely on.”

Moore was at his best when painted into a corner. Take a look at the top of the fourth. Albemarle had runners at first and third with none out and the meat section of its lineup due to bat. Moore escaped by showing cleanup hitter Travis Smith a called third strike at the knees, then got Jim Senter swinging at a belt-high fastball. Finally, he struck out Fast on a rising heater off the plate.

Two innings later Albemarle’s Randy Mauldin drilled a two-out triple to right but was stranded when Moore pulled the trigger and got Smith waving at a 2-2 curveball.

In the meantime, Fast was composing a masterpiece. He never allowed a leadoff batter to reach base and only two North runners got as far as second — Nathan Woodburn in the third inning and Phillip Goodman in the eighth. As the tension grew, he concentrated more on throwing strikes than on pitching a no-hitter.

“Oh, he knew. We all knew it,” said winning coach Gary Weiker. “Nobody wanted to say anything, but we all knew it.”

“I was trying to keep that out of my mind,” added Fast. “It seems like whenever you start thinking about it, something bad happens.”

Something nearly did. Trailing for the first time, North put two runners on base with two out in the last of the eighth. But when Fast retired Moore on a game-ending groundout to third-baseman Derek Williams, the celebration was on.

“I’m happy for him,” Kesler said before mounting the team bus. “The guys throws it 75 and pitches a no-hitter. I guess it’s not so much how you throw it but where. We’re not a real strong hitting team. Whenever a pitcher is hitting his spots, we seem to have trouble hitting. That’s been the story for us.”