After striking out 21 in a row, Virginia pitcher has to forfeit

There's something magical about watching a pitcher on a hot streak. Battlefield (Va.) High School senior Jake Agnos was pitching as well as possible, striking out 18 straight after giving up a lead-off home run on Monday in the conference semifinals.

As hard as it would've been, that's when his coaches should have taken their ace off the mound. Instead, they left him in. He completed the incredible game, striking out three more to make it 21. His team had shown more than enough support at the plate, giving him a 6-1 win.

Agnos even tossed three nine-pitch innings (that's three strikes, zero balls to each batter), according to Inside Nova.

But because he didn't come out after six innings, his team had to forfeit the game.

Agnos had already pitched a complete game earlier in the week. That one went eight innings, and Virginia High School League bans pitchers from pitching more than 14 innings in a single week.

By pitching 15 complete innings, Agnos violated the rule. Rather, his coaches violated the rule by keeping him in. The rule is in place to protect young pitchers' arms, as overuse can lead to serious injuries. His coach told Inside Nova that they were tracking pitch count rather than innings pitched, that Agnos was under the recommended pitch count, and that he'd taken the required five days of rest between starts.

Regardless, a rule is a rule, and when the Osbourn Park parents reported it to the school's athletic director, he called Battlefield's athletic director, who reported the incident to the VHSL. The VHSL confirmed that Battlefield would have to forfeit.

And so, one of the best pitching performances in recent memory will go down as a loss. Osbourn Park advanced to the conference final. Battlefield still advanced in the state tournament, but the loss drops the team from the top seed to the No. 3 seed.

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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or find her on Twitter and Facebook.