Gibsons Mitch Rainer of the North Shore Twins accomplished one of baseball's rarest feats. He pitched a perfect game in a 4-0 win over the Victoria Mariners recently at North Vancouver's Parkgate Park.
Eighteen-year-old Rainer retired all 21 batters he faced, striking out six in the seven-inning game as the Twins defeated the Mariners in B.C. Premier Baseball League action.
Rainer said he didn't start thinking about going perfect until around the fifth inning when he realized no one had reached base yet.
"Then it started to set in and the nerves were running wild," said Rainer. "It was really exciting. No one was really talking to me on the bench."
It was around that time that Twins general manager Rick Elstone examined his scorecard and saw what was going on. Baseball tradition has it that a pitcher who is approaching a no-hitter or perfect game gets the silent treatment when they are on the bench.
"You usually don't say anything because you don't want to give the heebie-jeebies to the kid," said Elstone.
By the time the top of the seventh inning rolled around, Rainer was three outs away from a complete clean sheet. A popup and a groundout later, it was down to the last out with Victoria's number three hitter Kelly Norris-Jones at the plate. Norris-Jones slapped Rainer's 65th pitch of the day to Twins' third baseman Ryan Connolly who fired to first baseman Kurtis Malm for the final out. That's when the team's silent treatment towards Rainer ended.
"The whole bench just erupted and came running at me," he said. "There was a big maul on me on the mound. It was incredible, I was buzzing. I remember I was looking at my hands and they were just shaking back and forth uncontrollably. I was so excited."
Rainer, a right-handed pitcher, has an 8-6 record on the season and an excellent 1.88 earned-run average. He looked good from the opening pitch, Elstone said.
"You could tell right as soon as he started throwing how smooth he was," said Elstone. "The first couple of hitters he looked like he had it all under control. He had a nice, relaxed delivery and he was putting the ball where he wanted it and moving it up and down and they weren't getting anywhere."
The defence was solid behind Rainer, but no one was called upon to make a spectacular play to save the perfect game, Elstone said.
"It was all pretty routine," he said.
Rainer said a big part of the credit should go to Ben Armstrong, the catcher who called the game.
"He was behind the plate calling a great game," Rainer said. "He's really good. I like when Ben catches because I know that he knows what I can do, and I know I can do it. We're a good pair."
Rainer, now in his third year with the Twins senior team, said he gained a lot of confidence from that outing.
"I feel really good about my stuff right now. Now I know I can do it and I have confidence in my pitching," he said.
In August he'll head to Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas to play junior college baseball. Armed with a mid-80s fastball, a curveball and a changeup, he's hoping to ramp up his game and catch some attention from the pro leagues. And Rainer will also be bringing his bat and glove down south. When he's not pitching for the Twins he's usually stationed at third base. Being able to continue pitching and playing the field would be perfect, said Rainer.
"We'll see how I fit in there the best. I'd like to keep my options open and do both. If I get limited to one, that's fine. Just as long as I'm playing baseball," he added.
No matter where he goes from here, Rainer can always look back and remember the day he was absolutely perfect.
Twins notes:
The Twins sit fifth in the league and will be part of the final eight when the first round of the playoffs start this weekend. Joining the Twins will be Langley, White Rock, North Delta, Victoria, Fraser Valley, Vancouver and Nanaimo. The final four teams from that tournament advance to the championship playoffs, which run July 31 to Aug. 3 at McLeod Park in Langley. The top team there will be crowned provincial champion, a feat the Twins have accomplished the last two years.
- With files from Ian Jacques
