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20 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2007 Royals pitcher near-perfect in no-no Gianfranco Pace strikes out 19 batters in seven innings By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF DOMINATING: Oakville Royals pitcher Gianfranco Pace pitched a seven-inning no-hitter against the Ottawa Nepean Canadians recently, striking out 19. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER Coming off a pair of bad starts, Gianfranco Pace figured he owed his team a strong performance. He was determined to go the distance in the second game of a double header against the Ottawa Nepean Canadians, but Pace did much more than that. The 16-year-old Oakville Royals lefty pitched a seven-inning no-hitter, ringing up 19 strikeouts in a recent Premier Baseball League of Ontario junior game. "I've never seen anything like that," said Royals coach Mike Siena. "It was one of the most dominant performances I've seen. The biggest threat was probably the 44-hopper to first base for the 21st out." Pace painted the corners with his fastball, had a curve ball teasing batters before dropping out of the strike zone, and kept hitters off balance with a breaking ball that Siena calls "one of the best around." More than half of the Oakville fielders didn't even get a chance to touch the ball in the 3-1 Oakville win. Only two Ottawa Nepean batters managed to put the ball in play -- a flyout to second base in the second inning and a two-strike ground out to first to end the game. At one point, Pace, who made the full-time switch to pitching from first base four years ago, struck out 13 of 14 batters, with only one of the three walks he allowed in the game breaking up the incredible run. "I just tried not to think about it because I didn't want to jinx it," said the Grade 11 Loyola student. Teammates ignored superstition While baseball superstition says you don't talk to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, Pace's teammates couldn't resist, although they didn't mention the no-no. "My teammates were starting to talk to me eventually," Pace said, "but they were saying, `Do you know how many strikeouts you have?'" Pace began playing in Oakville Little League at the age of seven before working his way up to the Oakville A's of the Ontario Baseball Association and then joining the Royals last season. In all those years, he said, he has never taken a no-hitter beyond the fifth inning. Pace's goal is to earn a baseball scholarship. "I want to keep my marks up and hopefully go somewhere in the southern states," he said. "My coach said it's good for every team to have a solid lefty so I hope to be that solid lefty." Siena said lack of effort won't stand in the way of Pace achieving that goal. "His work ethic is unmatched and, as a pitcher, that's what's required," said the coach. The girls of summer LADIES SOFTBALL: This past week's hot and muggy conditions didn't stop members of the Oakville Ladies Softball League from hitting the diamond and playing some ball. Above, Pic-A-Deli's Lindsay Grigor takes a swing. Right, Pamela Bautista of Finnegan's Wake sprays some sand as she delivers a pitch. Pic-A-Deli edged Finnegan's 7-6 in Tuesday's contest at Trafalgar Park. The Oakville Ladies Softball League, which features five teams and holds games each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the summer, will celebrate its 25th anniversary season next year. PHOTOS BY SABRINA BYRNES / OAKVILLE BEAVER