As Oneil Cruz’s groundball traveled to Dansby Swanson at shortstop, Miguel Amaya took off towards first base to backup for an apparent throw, his nerves through the roof.

Who could blame him?

After all, Amaya was staring at his first no-hitter, a major accomplishment for a catcher.

Halfway towards first base, though, Amaya stopped — Swanson’s a 2-time Gold Glover and has fielded plenty of plays like that before.

“Believe in my shortstop,” Amaya said.

When the ball settled in Michael Busch’s glove at first base, it was time to celebrate — and the emotions got the best of Amaya. He hugged Porter Hodge, the Cubs’ rookie closer who racked up the final 3 outs. Then Amaya joined the usual high-five line after wins, but he used his glove to cover his face.

“Sure, everybody has feelings,” Amaya said. “Tears [were] coming down and I feel so special and emotional.”

It was a beautiful, culminating moment for the Cubs’ homegrown catcher. Just 18 months ago, the idea of Amaya being the everyday catcher for the Cubs — let alone being the one who catches the team’s first no-hitter since 2021 and the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field since 1972 — seemed unlikely.

And yet there he was Wednesday, having caught the 2nd combined no-hitter in team history — this one by Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Hodge. And it was Amaya helping guide them all night.

Complete coverage of the no-hitter
–WATCH: The final out as Cubs put finishing touches on no-no
–Every out from the 2nd combined no-hitter in franchise history
–Shota Imanaga wasn’t aware of the no-hitter during outing
–Craig Counsell explains thought process behind taking Imanaga out of game
–Amaya, Hodge react after final out
–Analyzing the epic pitching performance from Imanaga, Pearson and Hodge
–The final out from every Cubs no-hitter since 2008
–Alex Cohen and Jim Deshaies recap no-hitter
–Pat Hughes’ call of the final out
–Miguel Esparza’s call of the final out in Spanish
–Dansby Swanson’s selfless gesture for Cubs pitchers during no-hitter

“It’s just as significant for the catcher, it really is,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And I know Miggy’s in [the clubhouse], and he’s rightfully very proud. It’s a special game for a catcher to be a part of.

“And really the guys in there are celebrating Miggy as much as Shota and Nate and Porter. So Miggy deserves a lot of credit tonight and I’m really proud that he could be part of it.”

This is a former top prospect whose main developmental struggle was his inability to stay on the field. A catcher who underwent Tommy John surgery and suffered a foot injury that limited his time behind a plate. A minor leaguer who didn’t play for a year when a global pandemic shut the development down for him and countless other prospects.

But instead of being down on himself or letting all that affect him, Amaya continued to work and put an emphasis on the one area he could always control — his work with a pitching staff. Amaya has taken pride in that, at one point earlier this season saying, “The most important thing is helping my pitchers. That’s my priority.”

“It’s just cool how much he takes pride in being the catcher for the pitching staff,” Nico Hoerner said. “He’s definitely someone who embodies everything you want from a team leader behind the plate, even though he’s on the younger side, and just how much he prioritizes the pitchers and winning and taking care of the staff is a big deal to him and means a lot to us.”

So, Amaya continued to plug away at that aspect, focusing on building reports, studying hitters and working with his pitchers to know how to best record outs.

Wednesday night, all that work was rewarded — and he passed off the credit to his pitching staff that he prioritizes so much.

“Well, it means a lot,” Amaya said. “A lot of work, a lot of writing down notes, doing some reports, studying each batter from the opposite side. And … just feeling comfortable and feeling that confidence that every button that I was putting, it was the right way to execute in there.

“I can put a button down, but if they don’t execute the pitch, nothing’s gonna happen. So, they did their thing, too.”