CLINTON —
Clinton pitcher Jordan Shipers said he didn’t have a good bullpen session before his start Wednesday night against West Michigan.
“I felt real funny before the game,” Shipers said. “I didn’t feel that great. I was kind of tired. I was still focused, but tired.”
His LumberKings teammates had no complaints about his performance in the game, though. Shipers threw a no-hitter as Clinton won 10-0 to move into a tie for first place in the Midwest League’s West Division.
There were a couple of nervous moments late in the game where good defensive plays kept the Whitecaps from getting hits. Both involved second baseman Daniel Paolini, one in the eighth inning and one in the ninth.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, Edgar Corcino hit a flare into shallow right field. Paolini raced out for it and Jabari Blash raced in.
“That last inning once we got the first two outs, I was extremely nervous,” Paolini said. “I was running for that ball in right field there at the end. I was like, ‘Where is Jabari? He better be here. He better be here.’ Luckily he was.”
Blash squeezed the ball into his glove and gave Shipers the first LumberKings’ no-hitter since Domingo Valdez in 2003 and the first nine-inning one since Scott Dunn threw a perfect game in 2000.
“I was nervous because it was kind of in a hard spot to get to,” Shipers said. “Once he caught it, I was really relieved and happy.”
The LumberKings mobbed Shipers on the mound to celebrate the accomplishment. Once Shipers got back to the clubhouse area, he got a shaving cream pie in the face and was doused with cooler full of water.
“It was fun,” Shipers said. “It’s a good experience. It doesn’t happen too often.”
The other moment that left Clinton fans hoping to see a no-hitter breathless was a groundball hit by Jason Krizan to lead off the eighth inning.
“It was a chopper to me,” Paolini said. “I was right in front of it. At the very end, it must have hit a rock or divot and bounced way to my left. In that situation, you’ve got to make a good attempt at it. I dove to my left and got it. I was like, ‘Oh man. I hope I can get up quick enough to throw this guy out.’ I knew he was pretty fast. Luckily, it was a bang-bang play and the umpire called him out.”
Paolini, who has played second base in only 17 of his 62 starts, did commit Clinton’s only error. Krizan hit a groundball to Paolini, who booted the ball and made a bad throw, allowing Krizan to reach base leading off the fifth. Paolini has played almost twice
Shipers, who walked two and struck out two, said there wasn’t really anything special about his approach on the mound.
“I just went out there and threw strikes,” he said.
But he did get left alone in the dugout, even more than normal.
“Nobody spoke to me or really even sat near me,” Shipers said. “I pretty much just stared down at the ground the whole time. I was in the zone.”
The LumberKings also had a big offensive night, putting up 10 runs. Paolini, Jamal Austin and Ramon Morla led the way with two RBIs each.
“We’ve just been hot of late,” Paolini said. “Everyone has been feeling good. Everyone is doing the right things up at the plate. We’re swinging at good pitches — laying off the off-speed and trying to attack the fastball.”
Clinton scored two in the first to give Shipers all the run support he needed. Morla singled in Austin for the first run and then scored on a double by Paolini.
Sports
July 12, 2012
Clinton's Shipers throws a no hitter
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