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TL1 Corpus Christi Hooks

Hooks No-Hit in Midland

August 2, 2009 - Texas League (TL1)
Corpus Christi Hooks News Release


MIDLAND, Texas - The Hooks made history Saturday night in Midland, but not in a good way.

Spot starter Arnold Leon and reliever Jason Fernandez combined on a seven-inning no-hitter, leading the RockHounds to a 5-0 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader. The no-hitter was just the third in club history for a franchise that began play in 1972, and the first to take place in Midland.

The improbable achievement was crafted by a pair of relievers with earned run averages over 4.50 and featured sensational defensive plays throughout the evening.

Leon, with a 4.74 ERA in 26 relief appearances this season, worked the first three innings and retired nine of the 11 men he faced. Hooks' leadoff hitter Wladimir Sutil walked twice against Leon.

Fernandez, with a 4.61 ERA in 20 games and 18 starts, entered in the fourth and got Drew Locke to line out to right for the first out in the inning. Fernandez (7-8) then walked Jimmy Van Ostrand, the only blemish on his record. Fernandez retired 11 in a row after the Van Ostrand walk to secure the win and a place in the history books.

Leon and Fernandez were supported by numerous great plays in the field. Center fielder Shane Peterson turned in two gems, racing back toward the wall in the third to rob Drew Meyer of an extra-base hit and going deep to get Felix Molina's 390-foot drive in the fifth. There were three other searing line-drive outs into the outfield, two handled by Peterson.

The most spectacular plays, though, occurred in the first and seventh. In the first, with two outs and Sutil at second, Van Ostrand sent a soft looper over first beyond the reach of Chris Carter. Second baseman Michael Affronti, activated from the disabled list Saturday, raced hard to his left and made a diving catch to take a hit away from Van Ostrand and prevent Sutil from scoring.

In the seventh, Fernandez threw just three pitches to get three outs. Van Ostrand opened the frame with a fly ball to right that Matt Sulentic caught a step in front of the warning track. Mark Ori sent a sharp grounder to Alex Valdez at third for the second out. Valdez followed that with the play of the night, diving hard to his right to stab a one-hop smash off the bat of Jonathan Fixler. Valdez, after landing on his chest, popped up and fired a perfect strike to Carter to complete the no-hitter.

It's the second time the Hooks have been no-hit in their five-year history. The first no-hitter was Frisco's three-man perfect game at Whataburger Field July 28, 2005. A.J. Murray, Steve Karsay and Scott Feldman accomplished the feat.

Carter tripled, homered and scored three runs to lead Midland's offense.

The historic result enabled the RockHounds to gain a split in the twin bill and render the performance of Wilton Lopez in game one to a footnote.

Lopez tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout in the opener to lift the Hooks to a 4-0 victory, Corpus Christi's first whitewash at Midland since August 24, 2007.

Lopez (3-3) walked two, struck out two, and threw just 75 pitches over seven innings, 55 for strikes. He was supported by four ground-ball double plays behind him, one each over the final three frames.

A triple by Locke and a single by Jason Castro gave the Hooks a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Van Ostrand followed with an opposite-field home run into Midland's bullpen in right. The homer was Van Ostrand's 12th this season - his eighth at Citibank Ballpark.

Nick Moresi sliced his third home run of the year just inside the right field foul pole with two outs in the seventh to make it a 4-0 game.

The series continues Sunday night at 6 o'clock. Brad James (2-8, 6.24) leads the Hooks into battle against Midland and staff ace Graham Godfrey (8-6, 3.66).

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