Tri-City trio makes history

Ashton Mowdy wasn't in the mood to spoil his 22nd birthday or the first no-hitter in Tri-City ValleyCats' history, for that matter.

After Shane Wolf and David Miller combined to baffle the Oneonta Tigers for seven innings, Mowdy gritted his way through the final two frames Saturday night as the ValleyCats posted a 10-0 blanking at Damaschke Field.

Wolf, a Freeville, N.Y., native making his professional debut, breezed through the first three innings, striking out three and picking off Mike Gosse for the final out of the third after Gosse reached on an error by shortstop Christopher Jackson.

Miller (1-0) walked two and struck out two over four frames before Mowdy took the hill to get the final six outs in just his second pro outing.

The left-hander from Mustang, Okla., got three quick outs in the eighth before struggling with his control in the ninth. Eric Harryman drew a leadoff walk and took second on Keith Stein's groundout to first. After getting Joaquin Guzman to fly out to center field, Mowdy issued back-to-back free passes to Hayden Parrott and Carlos Ramirez, loading the bases and eliciting a visit from Tri-City pitching coach Don Alexander.

"I got a little nervous after the first walk," Mowdy confessed. "I had never been in this situation in my life. (Don) told me to let him hit it and quit trying to make them miss. I just took a deep breath."

"You could see that he was caught up in the moment," added Alexander, who did his best to refocus Mowdy on the task at hand. "I just gave him a chance to relax and get his mind back on the game."

Wade LaMont stepped to the plate and swung at the first offering, hitting a harmless grounder to first that Danny Meier grabbed and flipped to Mowdy for the final out to complete the first no-hitter in the New York-Penn League since July 15, 2007, when Oneonta's Guillermo Moscosco pitched a perfect game against the Batavia Muckdogs.

"Shane Wolf did a great job. He faced the minimum," Alexander noted. "It was a great pro debut for him, and then Miller came on and gave us four really good innings. Ashton will have more than just his birthday to celebrate."

The no-hitter and Mowdy's birthday weren't the only causes for celebration, according to Alexander. Tri-City team president Bill Gladstone marked his 55th wedding anniversary with the history-making game.

Lost in all the pitching heroics was a 14-hit attack by the ValleyCats (2-3). Jack Shuck tripled, doubled and drove in three runs and Thomas Steele had three hits and two RBIs as Tri-City used a six-run sixth to open a 10-0 cushion.

Miller ran into trouble in the seventh, when he issued back-to-back one-out walks before getting Ramirez to ground out to third and LaMont to fly to right.

Tigers starter Mark Sorensen (0-1) gave up four runs -- three earned -- on five hits with three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.

Parrott walked twice for the Tigers (3-2), who beat the ValleyCats, 9-1, in Friday's series opener.