River Bandits Duo No-Hits Wisconsin

DAVENPORT, IA – Quad Cities River Bandits pitchers Zach Haake and Dante Biasi combined to do something to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Saturday night that hadn’t been done since April 12, 2004. The duo combined on a nine-inning no-hitter and received a lot of early run support on the way to a 9-0 Bandits victory over Wisconsin.

Click here for Friday's Boxscore

Quad Cities (26-13) jumped to a big, early lead for the second game in a row. Tyler Gentry drove in the first run of the inning. Jake Means stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and cracked a grand slam for a 5-0 lead six batters into the game.

Wisconsin (18-22) was held hitless by Quad Cities starting pitcher Zach Haake for six innings. Haake walked two, struck out four, and retired the final eleven batters he faced.

Reese Olson, the Rattlers starting pitcher, settled down after the first inning and kept the River Bandits from scoring for the rest of his time in the game. Olson left after the fifth inning with four walks and four strikeouts.

Harold Chirino relieved Olson in the sixth and retired the first two batters he faced. Logan Porter kept the inning going with a single. An error allowed Tucker Bradley to reach and the inning to get around to Nick Loftin.

Loftin ran the count full before hitting a high popup down the line in right. The ball dropped just fair and just out of the reach of three Wisconsin defenders to allow both runners to score. Michael Massey followed with an RBI single and the River Bandits were up 8-0.

Biasi took over for Haake in the top of the seventh. He walked Garrett Mitchell to start the inning before setting down the next three batters. In the eighth, Biasi again walked the lead-off batter, Carlos Rodríguez, before retiring the next three.

The River Bandits added a run in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI grounder by Nick Loftin.

In the top of the ninth, Biasi again walked the lead-off batter. This time it was Hayden Cantrelle. Biasi retired the next two batters before walking Je’Von Ward. Gabriel García had a 2-0 count and send a hard grounder to third that was bobbled by Means. Means made the recovery and was able to throw García out at first to start the celebration on the field.

The last time Wisconsin was held hitless in a nine-inning game was on April 12, 2004 by the Burlington Bees at Community Field. Dusty Hughes pitched the first eight innings and Jake Mullis worked the ninth in a 3-0 win.

There have been two no-hitters tossed against Wisconsin since that date, but both were less than nine innings. Johnny Cueto pitched a five-inning no-hitter in a game shortened by rain in the second game of doubleheader on May 13, 2006 when the Dayton Dragons beat the Rattlers 6-0 in the Fox Cities. Daniel Osterbrock tossed a seven-inning no-hitter against the Rattlers for the Beloit Snappers in a 4-0 win at Pohlman Field on May 1, 2010.

Friday’s loss was the fourth straight for Wisconsin.

Game five of the series is Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Zach Mort (1-2, 4.96) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Anthony Veneziano (1-2, 3.86) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 6:30pm. Catch all of the action on AM 1280 WNAM starting with the pregame show at 6:10pm. The game will be available on internet audio and through MiLB.tv, too.