Inman shows he's got Power, stamina

Ryne Inman made history for the Class A Power on Thursday.
The right-handed Seattle prospect went the distance in a gem -- scattering three hits without issuing a walk and fanning a career-high 12 -- as West Virginia blanked Lakewood, 3-0, at FirstEnergy Park. It marked the club's first nine-inning, complete-game shutout.

"I'm really thankful to be a part of that," Inman said. "It's really cool because the Power is a well-known franchise. It's not like they just showed up. They're an older program and the fact that it hasn't been done before is just really special to me."
The effort propelled the 23-year-old into a tie with Augusta's Seth Corry atop the South Atlantic League leaderboard for punchouts with 136. But it wasn't Inman's first complete game of the year. On June 15, he tossed all seven frames of the nightcap of West Virginia's twinbill at Hagerstown, a 2-1 Power victory.
But Inman (8-7) felt like he was in even more control this time around.
"I definitely was better tonight," he said. "The one thing that's similar between this time and that start was getting ahead of batters. I was consistently getting strike one, but I think tonight I missed more bats and put more guys away than I did that last time."
Against the BlueClaws, the 2015 15th-rounder sat down the first seven batters he faced, striking out the side in the second. After a one-out single to left field by Cole Stobbe in the third, Inman faced the minimum into the eighth.
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"I actually didn't feel my best from the start," he said. "But my defense made some really good plays behind me.
"I just attacked with my fastball and tried to put guys away with my slider. I barely threw any curveballs or changeups. The fastball-slider combo has been working for me lately, so I just tried to stay on that and it lined up."
The only blemish for the Atlanta native the rest of the way was a one-out double to left by Carlos De La Cruz in the eighth. Inman recorded five of his final six outs via punchout.
"I was just sticking to my gameplan there. I fell behind, so I tried to attack with my fastball and he hit it," he said. "You just tip your cap there. That stuff happens and that's why it's so important to work from ahead."
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound hurler threw 81 of his career-high 108 pitches for strikes. He had never gone further than seven frames before, but fatigue was not a factor down the stretch.

"I think I felt the most fatigue in the middle of the game -- probably the fourth through sixth innings," Inman said. "Once I got to the seventh, going 7-8-9, I was just running on adrenaline and it just took me where I needed to be."
Over 24 starts with West Virginia, the righty sports a 4.39 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 121 innings. Opponents are hitting .228 against him this season.
Charlie McConnell provided all the offense Inman needed, tripling in Onil Pena in the third and then lifting a sacrifice fly that plated Mike Salvatore in the fifth. The Power added a run in the eighth when second-ranked Mariners prospectJulio Rodriguez scampered home on a wild pitch by Kevin Gowdy.