The Pohlman Field scoreboard after the game.

Two Beloit Snappers pitchers combined to no-hit the Quad Cities River Bandits for nine innings as the home team won 3-0 at Pohlman Field on Wednesday.

LHP Zack Erwin pitched the first six innings for the Snappers, walking one and striking out four batters. He got the win, improving to 6-4 with a 2.12 ERA, 84 strikeouts and 21 walks in 85 innings (17 starts) this season.

Beloit Snappers LHP Zack Erwin

RHP Joe Camacho pitched the final three innings for Beloit, walking one and striking out two batters. He earned his first save of the season. In 16 appearances (one start) this year, he is 2-3 with a 2.94 ERA, 26 strikeouts and six walks in 33.2 innings.

Beloit Snappers RHP Joe Camacho

It is Beloit’s first nine-inning no-hitter since LHP Jason Dawsey threw one against the Burlington Bees on July 26, 1996, and the first Snappers no-no since LHP Daniel Osterbrock pitched one in the second game of a doubleheader against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on May 1, 2010. It is the first combined no-hitter in the 36-year-old franchise’s history.

River Bandits starter Ronel Blanco took the loss after giving up an unearned run in 4.2 innings. The right-hander allowed two hits, walked five batters, and struck out one. He is 5-4 with a 3.40 ERA, 69 strikeouts and 43 walks in 76.2 innings (20 games/10 starts) for Quad Cities this season.

Quad Cities River Bandits RHP Ronel Blanco

LHP Patrick Sandoval pitched the rest of the game for the River Bandits, giving up two earned runs on three hits and one walk in 3.1 innings. He struck out four batters. He is 2-2 with a 4.60 ERA, one save, 35 strikeouts and 11 walks in 29.1 innings (seven games/five starts) for Quad Cities this season.

Snappers right-fielder JaVon Shelby (son of former major-league outfielder John Shelby) caught the last out of the game, which, of course, set off a postgame celebration by the mound.

Beloit Snappers players celebrate the no-hitter after the game.

A few interesting side notes:

The River Bandits probably would have been celebrating near that same spot on the field had they won, because a victory would have clinched a playoff berth for them.

Shelby caught the last out of the no-hitter on the same night his cousin, Pirates infielder Josh Harrison, hit a walk-off homer to end Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Rich Hill’s no-hit bid (and win bid) in the bottom of the 10th inning at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.

Both Harrison and Hill played in the Midwest League when they were Chicago Cubs farmhands. Harrison batted .315 with 5 HR, 37 RBI and 22 SB in 110 games with the 2008-09 Peoria Chiefs. Hill posted a 2.76 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 36 walks in 29.1 innings (15 games/four starts) for the 2003 Lansing Lugnuts. He also made a rehab start for the Chiefs in 2005, striking out 12 batters while allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks in eight innings.

The Chiefs connection completes a full circle for me. Wednesday’s no-hitter was the second one I’ve seen in person. The first one was in Peoria on July 4, 2011, when Chiefs LHP Austin Kirk pitched a nine-inning no-no against the Clinton LumberKings. You can read my post about that game — which took place less than two months after I started this website — here.

The 2011 Peoria Chiefs celebrate Austin Kirk’s July 4 no-hitter.

*All photos by Craig Wieczorkiewicz/The Midwest League Traveler