Detroit Wolverines No-Hit the Wichita White Stockings in Low A Ball

By KYLE KEOUGH
Double Day AP

The Detroit Wolverines (11-8) pulled a rare feat yesterday in pitching a no-hitter against the Wichita White Stockings (6-13). Wolverines project LaTroy Hall (1-2) earned his first victory of the season over the course of 112 grueling pitches that left the 21-year-old lefty all but spent in the game's ninth frame.

Reliever Joaquin Mesa entered the ninth inning with a flare for the dramatic, walking Rodrigo Melendez before catching Darrell Dunston looking on a called third strike and forcing Brad Abbey to fly out to shallow center field to seal a combined no-hitter.

For Hall, the near-perfect outing came in the midst of a season marred by shaky starts and wild pitches. The 21-year-old was a season-two draftee for the Wolverines, and he spent his first year at the professional level in Detroit's Rookie League system, in which he went 6-5 with a 3.93 ERA. Armed with a four-pitch arsenal that includes a change up that hovers around the 72 mile-per-hour mark, Hall has thus far been pegged by scouts as a borderline ML prospect and a likely future AAA starter for Detroit.

Earlier this season, Hall, whose ERA has been lowered to a still-obese 7.20, has been faulted for a lack of command of the strike zone and an inability to keep hitters off-balance and guessing. Yet against Wichita, Hall stayed within the strike zone and pitched to contact, stifling the White Stockings with low breaking balls that turned doubles into routine ground outs or shallow fly balls.Several times, Detroit's defense misplayed routine plays--SS Keith Hargrave butchered two grounders up the middle--but Hall kept his composure throughout, even with runners on base.

Also in the game was the next step in the development of one of Detroit's up-and-coming bright prospects. 19-year-old wonderkid Terrence Hurst continued to impress, smoking a three-run home run that edged over the wall and walking in an additional run to total four RBIs on the evening. The season-two first-round draft pick is now batting .382 with 20 RBIs in 19 games on the season and, as a surefire future major leaguer, is staking a claim for a promotion to High A and beyond.