Wed, Jan 07 2009
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Published July 01, 2008 10:00 am - Oskaloosa senior pitcher Brent Ford was nearly perfect in a 13-0 win over South Tama Monday night. Ford tosses no-hitter at South Tama By JIM GRIES Herald sports editor OSKALOOSA — When a team gets a pitcher a four-run cushion in the very first inning, the pitcher usually settles down and throws a good game.
Oskaloosa senior Brent Ford got that early run support and was nearly perfect in tossing a 13-0 no-hitter against Little Hawkeye Conference foe South Tama on Throwback Night. The Indians (8-21, 6-14) wore uniforms from the 1990s and they played one of their best game of the season. They collected 10 hits and had just one error which denied Ford his perfect game. Ford said jokingly that he’s had a streak which he had hit at least one batter in each of his recent outings. On this night, he was unhittable as he fanned eight and faced one batter over the minimum. “There were some games where I was bringing it pretty good, but they would catch up and start hitting me,” Ford said. “The four early runs relaxes me a lot. You’ve got just more cushion when you go out and have a lot to work with. The mental aspect of getting four runs lifts you up.” The Trojans (6-19, 4-13) had three weak grounders to begin the game then Oskaloosa flexed its muscles with the bats in its half of the first inning. Alex West drew a walk and, after Dustin Rhoads struck out, Aaron Laird drilled a double to center field to score West and a 1-0 lead. Garrett Luckett flied out and Bryan Donohue followed with an RBI double to plate Laird. Tyler Vitzthum singled and D.J. Draughn doubled home Donohue and courtesy runner Jake McCrea to give Ford all the runs he would need on this night. Oskaloosa coach Brandon Schmidt was happy how Ford got his defense involved early. “He did a good job of getting the defense involved early,” he said. “I didn’t think he had a strikeout until the third inning when he struck out the side. He threw strikes the first two innings and put the guys in play and got in a rhythm. “Our defense allowed him to get in a rhythm. By us making those first six plays, he got confidence the defense was going to make the plays and he went after them some more.” The Indian hitters also went after some more as West had a run-scoring triple to score Austin Westercamp, who walked, and a sacrifice fly by Laird brought West home for a 6-0 advantage. The third inning was a big inning as they tallied five runs on just two hits. Donohue singled and stole second. Vitzthum and Draughn walked to load the bases and Westercamp drew his second walk of the game to score Donohue. West hit into a fielder’s choice, but Trojan shortstop Jesse Wedmore committed an error to allow two more runs to score. Rhoads walked and Laird came through with an RBI single to cap the scoring as Rhoads scored on the base hit. 
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