6/09/04 – Daily News Record

Norrick Stifles Jacks By AARON GRAY Daily News-Record Harrisonburg pitcher Tyler Norrick was a little nervous before his first outing of the season. But a 30-minute delay for a wet field at the beginning of the game at Memorial Stadium didn’t seem to hurt the left-hander’s timing one bit. Norrick pitched five no-hit innings and struck out 11 to lead Harrisonburg to an 11-4 victory over error-prone Covington in a Valley League baseball game Tuesday. The Turks improved to 2-0; the Lumberjacks fell to 1-1. "I haven’t had an outing like that for six or seven years," said Norrick, who was used primarily as a closer for Southern Illinois this year. Norrick retired the Lumberjacks in order in the first and second innings before he walked the bases loaded on 12 pitches in the third. "A lot of these guys come out early and overthrow batters," Turks manager Bob Wease said, "but Tyler was strong tonight. … No hits given up – great performance." Norrick retired the next three batters and escaped the bases-loaded jam. The Turks scored four runs in the first behind their Indiana University imports. Center fielder Reggie Watson, second baseman Corby Heckman and third baseman Ryan Parker – all Hoosiers – each had a hit in the inning. Heckman’s single to center field drove in two runs and Parker added an RBI-single. Harrisonburg shortstop Gered Mochizuki was 3-for-5 with a walk to lead the Turks on offense. Covington first baseman Andy Bennett hit a double in the eighth to account for one of the Lumberjacks’ three hits in the game. The Jacks had nine errors. Covington 001 102 000 – 4 3 9 Harrisonburg 423 000 11x – 11 10 1 Blinson, Dobbs (2), Zakry (7) and Gulla; Norrick, Atzinger (6), Brune (7), Pereria (9) and Diaz, Sluder (8). W – Norrick (1-0). L – Blinson (0-1).