August 16
South Bend, IN
Stealing the Show
They came to see a highly touted rookie.
Alfred Warren had dominated in high school just a couple of hours north east of
South Bend and he dominated in college just a couple of hours north west of South Bend. This was his third time this season pitching in Ni-Source Stadium and he had put on a pretty good show the first two outings leading the
Duluth Danger to victories in each. He had his ups and downs this rookie season but he had matured and the fans were looking for a show from the number two overall pick.
South Bend had a rookie of its own to trot out to the mound that night and everyone forgot to tell
Kelly Boyd that this was suppose to be Warren's night. Boyd had started the season in the Silver Sox bullpen and had pitched well enough to earn a spot in the starting rotation beginning May 1. He struggled a bit allowing 153 hits and 66 earned runs in his first 125 innings as an HBL starter but on this night it all came together long enough for him to steal the show.
Looking back the most important hitter Boyd had faced in the game would be
Bob Draper in the first inning. "This guy comes in hitting .207 and had drawn just 10 walks all season and I walk him on five pitches," Boyd would detail in the post game presser. "I knew the scouting report and I was picking at the corners instead of going after him." Two pitches later Draper was standing at third with one out and two stolen bases under his belt. Boyd would get out of the inning but Draper would be the last Danger player to get on base the rest on the night.
Warren did his part to make the game exciting with the two newcomers taking a scoreless game into the bottom of the seventh inning. In the bottom of that inning pinch hitter
Jong-Ju Kim would follow a two out
Enrique Ortiz single with a 2-2 laser that cleared the left field wall and gave Boyd all the run support he would need.
With two runs on his side Boyd would need just 21 pitches to dispatch the Danger in the eighth and ninth innings giving him just the fourth no hitter in HBL history. After throwing out
Danny Koch on a weak ground ball back to the mound to end the game the rookie was mobbed by his teammates as the nearly 12,000 fans stood with applause in appreciation. They had gotten their show afterall.
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