In what was almost certainly his final outing of the year Hillsboro's Kyle Schepel went out and threw a no-hitter with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. Don't even ask me where it came from either. Schepel was an off-season minor league free agent signee out of the independent leagues. He was assigned to Visalia where he got hit pretty hard. The 23-year-old was demoted to South Bend and he didn't do all that well there either though he wasn't horrible. He was sent to Hillsboro about the same time Braden Shipley and Aaron Blair were promoted to South Bend so maybe it isn't fair to say it was entirely a demotion. But give the kid his due. His only blemish was a walk to lead off the 5th inning. The recap identifies 5 line drive outs so I'm sure he got a few breaks. But he finished it off in style with a swinging strikeout for the pitcher's dream game. Hats off to Kyle Schepel.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Kyle Schepel, Hillsboro 9 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 0 ER, W (1-0)
2 Stars: Andrew Chafin, Mobile 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 ER
1 Star: Brad Keller, Missoula 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 ER
0 Stars: Josh & Jordan Parr Hillsboro 0 for 8, 4 K
Triple A: Reno 8 @ Salt Lake 5. Zeke Spruill was pretty so-so allowing 4 runs over 5 innings. But the offense and the bullpen were very good and they made him a winner upping his record to 6-5. David Hernandez finally surrendered his first run in AAA allowing 1 run on 2 hits in closing out the game. Alfredo Marte delivered the big blow on offense with a 3-run homer in the 6th that broke a 4-4 tie. Juan Rivera hit a solo home run and Josh Wilson hit a 2-run shot.
Double A: Mobile 4 Pensacola 3. Andrew Chafin tossed 5 shutout innings on 2 hits and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts. He was pulled after 77 pitches. The bullpen blew Chafin's slim 1-0 lead in the 8th, only to have the offense rally in the 9th on an RBI double by Garrett Webber followed by a 2-run double from Nick Ahmed that was the walk-off winner. Blake Cooper got the win with 1.1 innings of shutout relief.
High A: Visalia 5 Bakersfield 4. Andrew Barbosa delivered another good start allowing 1 run over 5 innings to improve his record to 11-9. RJ Hively pitched the 9th for his 13th save. Jake Lamb went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI to lead the offense. David Peralta went 3 for 4 and Kevin Medrano went 2 for 4 with a double and his 10th stolen base.
Low A: South Bend 5 @ Dayton 2. Braden Shipley started and was too wild to make it out of the 4th inning with 5 walks, though he only allowed 1 run on 2 hits with 3 strikeouts. The bullpen was very good allowing 1 run over the final 5.1 innings. Rudy Flores went 2 for 3 with a walk, a double and an RBI, and Michael Lang hit a 2-run homer in the 9th, his 4th.
Short Season A: Hillsboro 5 @ Boise 0. Kyle Schepel tossed a no-hitter with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts on the road in Boise. The offense pieced together 5 runs led by Yosbel Gutierrez who went 2 for 4.
Rookie: Missoula 10 Great Falls 5. Felipe Perez had one of his better starts of late allowing 1 run on 4 hits over 5 innings while striking out 5. Brad Keller (the team's 8th round pick this year) was given his first action outside of the AZ Rookie League and he was superb with 3 shutout innings in relief of Perez with 3 strikeouts. Colin Bray went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Jose Queliz and Jake Mayers each added 2 hits to the cause.