By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

KEIZER, Ore.–  Carson McNally has never picked up a full seven inning no-hitter until Tuesday at Volcanoes Stadium in Blanchet’s 4-0 win over Culver.  Going the distance on 99 pitches and striking out nine in the process to 

“It’s the only thing I’ve gotten left to do.  It’s the only accomplishment I feel like I haven’t had, it feels great,” describe McNally, who struck out nine in the win.  “We had great plays at third and short that saved the game.  Spencer (Kowalski) called a great game behind the plate and I give it all to him.  He called a great game.”

And it took the sophomore a bit to get into his groove.  Perhaps just the first inning as him and catcher Spencer Kowalski got accustomed to the strike zone that they were working with on this day.  The first seven outs were by McNally’s arm before Drew Bartels made the first of four outs by the shortstop, the first out coming in for the second out in the third inning.  Dylan Cuff from his third base position contributed another three putouts as they consistently fed their first baseman in Landon Gerig.  Gerig saw eight ground balls coming his way for an out that he completed, all to back up their pitcher with hits and runs coming at a premium in the 2A/1A Special District 3 match-up.

“First inning, I think it took him a little bit to find the zone.  For me it took a while to find the zone to get him into a rhythm and once we got going we couldn’t stop.  It was hard to stop,”  starts Kowalski.  “Our whole team is solid defensively.  I have a lot of confidence in the guys out there, Carson does too.”

And though they collected just four runs on six hits, Cuff leading the way going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two doubles, they strung a few of them together to make the difference in the victory.  Griffen Mucken had the other double for a Blanchet team sitting 4-0 in league play ad 8-1 overall in the season going into Thursday’s doubleheader at Culver.

“It was big.  It’s a lot more comfortable pitching with the lead than pitching from behind.  The bats were clutch,” McNally said.  “It’s a great way to start conference.  4-0 now, we got two more games left in the week to win.”

Photos By Jeremy McDonald