June 2009
Frymier Tosses 10th No-No In NWL History
On a night that included four shutouts St. Cloud's Kurtis Frymier one-upped the other stellar pitching performances by tossing the 10th no-hitter in NWL history. The third-year River Bat from Michigan State pitched the second no-no in River Bats history - in a 2-0, 7-inning win in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the La Crosse Loggers at Joe Faber Field. Frymier joined Wisconsin's Bobby Pritchett as the only Northwoods Leaguers to throw a no-hitter this season. Frymier also joined Thomas Diamond as the only River Bats to accomplish the feat. Frymier (1-1) escaped trouble in the first inning when two Loggers reached base on errors. He allowed the first of his two walks to start the second inning, but induced a double-play ball in the next at-bat. That began a string of 14 consecutive batters retired by Frymier.
O’Grady Tosses One-Hitter In Duluth
Dennis O'Grady (Duke) threw a complete game one-hitter, struck out nine, and walked only one to lead the Lunkers to a 1-0 victory over the Duluth Huskies at Wade Stadium. O'Grady is the first player to be named both Pitcher and Player of the Night as he was previously named the NWL Player of the Night on June 12. O'Grady's curveball and fastball were spot-on all night, and the lone hit he allowed came in the second inning. He retired the Huskies in the fifth by striking out all three guys he faced, and in eight of his nine innings pitched, he only faced three Duluth hitters.
Handley Handles MoonDogs
Mitch Handley (North Alabama) went seven strong innings as the Alexandria Beetles defeated the first place Mankato MoonDogs 2-1. Handley allowed just five hits and one run. He walked one and struck out two in earning his second Pitcher of the Night award this season and the third by a North Alabama pitcher (Chase Porch, ALX). Handley sat down the first eight batters of the game to get the Beetles off to a good start.
Bear Lifts ‘Cats With Complete Game Effort
Colin Bear (Northwestern State) gave the Thunder Bay Border Cats a much needed solid outing on the mound firing a complete game five hitter. The Border Cats snapped a seven game losing streak Sunday night in beating Brainerd 4-1 at Port Arthur Stadium. The lefthander allowed only one run in the seventh inning. Bear walked three and struck out seven as he evened his record at 1-1.
Fondon Shuts Down Express
RJ Fondon shut down the Eau Claire Expresss, in Eau Claire, to keep the Express from claiming sole possesion of 1st place in the South Division. Fondon (Florida International) kept the Express off balance all night as he pitched seven innings to earn the victory for the Duluth Huskies. Honorable Mention #1: Brad Mergen (Indian Hills CC) pitched a stellar seven-inning, three-hit affair as the Lunkers defeated the St. Cloud River Bats, 2-0. Honorable Mention #2: Ryan Demmin (UW-Oshkosh) hurled seven sparkling innings, allowing just five hits and striking out seven.
Pritchett Tosses 9th No-Hitter in NWL History
History was made Friday night at Athletic Park as Bobby Pritchett (Central Arkansas) threw the third no-hitter in Wisconsin Woodchucks history in front of 2,876 fans as he blanked the Green Bay Bullfrogs in a 4-0 victory. Pritchett was the story from the start as he struck out the first three batters he faced. He got into a bit of a jam and in the third as he walked two consecutive Bullfrogs, but he was able to work out of the jam and keep things scoreless. He did not allow a run or a hit and struck out 12 while walking just three.
Jaramillo’s Turn To Blank Bombers
Rudy Jaramillo (New Mexico) pitched the second complete game shutout in a row for the Express. He gave up only four hits and struck out seven hitters in his victory. Chris Odegaard (MSU-Mankato) tossed a complete game shutout Wednesday for the first place Express (11-3).
Odegaard Blanks Bombers
On a night that had several good pitching performances around the NWL it was near impossible to out-do Eau Clair's Chris Odegaard (MSU-Mankato). The right-hander pitched a complete game shutout and helped lead the Eau Claire Express to a 10-0 victory over Battle Creek to keep the Express in a tie for first and put the Bombers a game back. It was a huge day for Odegaard and it started in the Major League Baseball draft. Odegaard was selected in the twenty-third round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He allowed only two hits the entire game and seemed to get stronger as the game went on, not allowing a hit after the fourth inning. He struck out twelve batters while walking just two on the way to the victory.
Jansen Pitches Mallards Back Into First
Starting pitcher Matt Jansen (2-1) (Purdue) was in control from the get-go, in posting seven innings of shutout ball while only allowing four hits. He struck out four and walked just one. The win moves the Mallards (9-3) back into a first-place tie with Battle Creek and Eau Claire.
Robertson Out Duels Gates In Rochester Victory
Zach Robertson (Iowa) out did counterpart Aaron Gates (Pepperdine) and threw 7 shutout innings to lead the Rochester Honkers to a 1-0 victory over the La Crosse Loggers. The game was a 0-0 affair until the bottom of the 6th when Rochester was able to push a run across. Robertson allowed just four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks and improved to 2-1 on the season.
Lukanen Pitches Bullfrogs to Victory
Chuck Lukanen (Northern Illinois) shut down the Wisconsin Woodchucks on Sunday allowing only two hits in seven innings on the bump. He also struck out four and walked three to earn his second win of the season for the Green Bay Bullfrogs.
Patterson Gives Huskies Sweep of Nightly Awards
Matt Patterson (Creighton) pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for his first win of the season for Duluth. Patterson entered with the game tied at two and shut-out the Border Cats the rest of the way, allowing just two hits and striking out one. Player of the Night Andy Burns scored the winning run in the top of the ninth and Patterson took care of the 'Cats in the bottom half for the Duluth 3-2 victory.
