Off Topic
Valle Adds No-No To Resume
April 27, 2044: Twin Cities – All of this whole thing pitcher Mingo Boone broke in with the Yellow Springs 9 and never threw a no-hitter. The famous Marcellus Conley pitched in the premodern era , setting team records for a decade and never threw a no-hitter . Jose Chavez . Lawrence Columbus LaLoosh. Eduardo Lopez. Alberto Salazar, Rick Ward, Emile Yost, and even Nebraska himself (Andy not Steve) all pitched for Yellow Springs. None of them ever threw a no-hitter. In fact, never in the history the Yellow Springs franchise had a player thrown the first pitch in a game and walked away nine innings later having not allowed even a single base hit.
He walked three and hit two batters, but his defense helped him out, and after 125 pitches, Carlos Valle had achieved what before had been unachievable, blanking the River Monsters 2-0, and earning his fourth win behind a two-run shot from Robert Chenoweth.
“The most important thing is that we won,” Valle said after the game. “but I’d be lying to say that this wasn’t fun.”
“the game is played by people,” said voice of the 9 Melissa Lester, “Not by cold numbers and equations on computers. It is great to see the guys having fun.”
There were celebrations of course.
The fateful final inning started with Valle walking Mark Wareham, then getting Onne Heijnen to fly out to right field. Ron Ritchie, who had been substituted in at third base to start the inning, turned a hard hit grounder that seemed destined for left field into an acrobatic fielder's choice and second base for the second out. that set the stage for Jose Cordero, who took three balls and then a cold strike before swinging and missing to fill the count. With both the game and no hitter on the line values final pitch turned in to a fly ball but eventually settled into the glove of Arvin Duggan.
Valle threw his hat into the Minnesota night. Catcher Bruce McKinley was the first man to the mound, wrapping the pitcher into a bearhug that nearly killed him. The team broke out beer in the clubhouse later, and presented Valle with the “Needed 125 Pitches to Finish the Damned Game Award” which consisted of a scuffed ball that had been thrown out after a foul tip, marked with a sharpied “125.”
“It’s my favorite thing,” Valle said at the post game briefing room. “To be honest, I wasn’t that sharp tonight, but it seemed like IU could pick my spots, and the guys came through when I needed them to. So this is about them, too. I’m going to get them all to sign it.”
The victory was the 149th of Valle's career, and served to drop his ERA to an eye-catching 1.80, a number that, should he manage to maintain it over the long haul of a BBA season, would have to make him prominent in any discussions that circle around the prestigious Nebraska Award--of which Valle has collected two.
More important, though: the victory left the Nine 18-4, four games up on the Loserville Sluggers in the chase for the highly coveted Heartland Division pennant.
BOTTOM OF THE 1ST
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: RHB Mark Wareham
0-0: Ball
1-0: Swinging Strike
1-1: Called Strike
1-2: Strikes out swinging
Batting: LHB Onne Heijnen
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Fly out, F9 (Flyball, 9, EV 96.9 MPH)
Batting: RHB Francisco Arredondo
0-0: Fly out, F4 (Line Drive, 4, EV 74.4 MPH)
Bottom of the 1st over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base; Yellow Springs 0 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 2ND
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: SHB José Cordero
0-0: Ball
1-0: Swinging Strike
1-1: Ball
2-1: Called Strike
2-2: Ball
3-2: Strikes out swinging
Batting: RHB Jorge Gutiérrez
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-2: Strikes out swinging
Batting: LHB José Calderón
0-0: Ball
1-0: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-1: Ball
2-1: Fly out, F9 (Flyball, 9D, EV 94.4 MPH)
Bottom of the 2nd over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base; Yellow Springs 0 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 3RD
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: RHB Parker Davenport
0-0: Called Strike
0-1: Hit by Pitch
Batting: LHB Ricardo Aragón
0-0: Swinging Strike
0-1: Ball
1-1: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-2: Ball
2-2: Strikes out swinging
Batting: RHB Thad Meyer
0-0: Ball
1-0: Grounds into double play, 5-4-3 (Groundball, 15, EV 86.9 MPH)
Bottom of the 3rd over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base; Yellow Springs 0 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 4TH
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: RHB Mark Wareham
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Hit by Pitch
Batting: LHB Onne Heijnen
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
Mark Wareham steals 2nd base
1-1: Ball
2-1: Ball
3-1: Called Strike
3-2: Fly out, F7 (Flyball, 7, EV 93.8 MPH)
Batting: RHB Francisco Arredondo
0-0: Called Strike
0-1: Ball
1-1: Ground out 6-3 (Groundball, 6, EV 84.4 MPH)
Mark Wareham to third
Batting: SHB José Cordero
0-0: Foul Ball, location: 2F
0-1: Swinging Strike
0-2: Ball
1-2: Strikes out looking
Bottom of the 4th over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base; Yellow Springs 2 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 5TH
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: RHB Jorge Gutiérrez
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Ball
2-1: Ball
3-1: Called Strike
3-2: Foul Ball, location: 2F
3-2: Ground out 5-3 (Groundball, 56S, EV 85.6 MPH)
Batting: LHB José Calderón
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Ball
2-1: Ball
3-1: Called Strike
3-2: Base on Balls
Batting: RHB Parker Davenport
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-2: Fly out, F8 (Flyball, 8RXD, EV 107.5 MPH)
Batting: LHB Ricardo Aragón
0-0: Ball
1-0: Ball
2-0: Ball
3-0: Base on Balls
José Calderón to second
Batting: RHB Thad Meyer
0-0: Called Strike
0-1: Swinging Strike
0-2: Strikes out swinging
Bottom of the 5th over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base; Yellow Springs 2 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 6TH
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: RHB Mark Wareham
0-0: Called Strike
0-1: Ball
1-1: Swinging Strike
1-2: Ball
2-2: Foul Ball, location: 2F
2-2: Ball
3-2: Strikes out swinging
Batting: LHB Onne Heijnen
0-0: Foul Ball, location: 2F
0-1: Ball
1-1: Swinging Strike
1-2: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-2: Ground out U3 (Groundball, 34, EV 80.0 MPH)
Batting: RHB Francisco Arredondo
0-0: Ball
1-0: Ball
2-0: Called Strike
2-1: Fly out, F8 (Flyball, 8LXD, EV 97.5 MPH)
Bottom of the 6th over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base; Yellow Springs 2 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 7TH
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: SHB José Cordero
0-0: Ball
1-0: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-1: Fly out, F8 (Flyball, 8RXD, EV 105.6 MPH)
Batting: RHB Jorge Gutiérrez
0-0: Ball
1-0: Ball
2-0: Foul Ball, location: 2F
2-1: Ground out U3 (Groundball, 34, EV 76.9 MPH)
Batting: LHB José Calderón
0-0: Called Strike
0-1: Ball
1-1: Swinging Strike
1-2: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-2: Strikes out looking
Bottom of the 7th over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base; Yellow Springs 2 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 8TH
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Batting: RHB Parker Davenport
0-0: Ground out 6-3 (Groundball, 56, EV 80.0 MPH)
Batting: LHB Ricardo Aragón
0-0: Ball
1-0: Called Strike
1-1: Called Strike
1-2: Foul Ball, location: 2F
1-2: Strikes out swinging
Batting: RHB Thad Meyer
0-0: Ball
1-0: Ground out 5-3 (Groundball, 56S, EV 88.8 MPH)
Bottom of the 8th over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base; Yellow Springs 2 - Twin Cities 0
BOTTOM OF THE 9TH
Twin Cities River Monsters batting - Pitching for Yellow Springs Nine : RHP Carlos Valle
Now at 3B: Ron Ritchie
Batting: RHB Mark Wareham
0-0: Called Strike
0-1: Ball
1-1: Swinging Strike
1-2: Ball
2-2: Ball
3-2: Base on Balls
Batting: LHB Onne Heijnen
0-0: Ball
1-0: Fly out, F9 (Flyball, 9, EV 89.4 MPH)
Batting: RHB Francisco Arredondo
0-0: Foul Ball, location: 2F
0-1: Ball
1-1: Ball
2-1: Fielders Choice at 2nd, 5-4 (Groundball, 56, EV 85.6 MPH)
Batting: SHB José Cordero
0-0: Ball
1-0: Ball
2-0: Ball
3-0: Called Strike
3-1: Swinging Strike
3-2: Fly out, F8 (Flyball, 8LM, EV 85.6 MPH)
Bottom of the 9th over - 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base; Yellow Springs 2 - Twin Cities 0
