Vernon pitcher Jarod Leroux stared down the best team in the Premier Baseball League and picked them apart, one batter by one batter.
Leroux tossed a no-hitter, facing one batter over the minimum in seven innings, as he helped the Okanagan Athletics blanked the then-first-place Coquitlam Reds 7-0 to earn a split of their league twinbill (Coquitlam won opener 11-6).
His only blemish was hitting a batter to start the third inning, or else Leroux would have tossed a perfect game. He struck out 12 Reds.
Leroux was coming off a start the weekend where he blanked the White Rock Titans 9-0 with another dozen Ks and no walks. He has started three games for the A’s, has a record of 2-1 (both complete-game wins) and an earned run average of 2.16.
The Athletics, based out of Kelowna, are in Okotoks, Alta. this weekend for a three-game series with the Okotoks Dawgs. Okanagan is 8-8 and in ninth place in the 13-team league, five-and-a-half games behind the front-running Mid-Island Pirates (15-4), who are a half-game up on the Reds (15-5).
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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