Notebook: Sedgwick County’s Dunker tosses perfect game, strikes out 19
Trying to hit Chase Dunker? Good luck.
The Sedgwick County senior threw his second no-hitter of the season on Thursday, this one a perfect game against Holyoke in which he struck out 19 batters in a seven-inning game. Two balls were put into play — one a groundout to second, another a groundout to third. He threw just 82 pitches.
He was also 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Dunker, 5-foot-9 and 147 pounds, is now 5-0 with 77 strikeouts against just four walks. In fact, Dunker has faced 99 batters this season, meaning he’s striking them out more than three-fourths of the time.
Dunker hasn’t allowed an earned run in 28 2/3 innings so far this season, and has given up just two total runs — and four hits. He also no-hit Wray on April 5, striking out 14 of the 16 batters he faced that game and throwing only 56 pitches.
Sedgwick County is now 11-1, and ranked No. 6 in CHSAANow.com’s latest 2A poll.
In his career, Dunker is now 17-3 with a 1.01 ERA. He hasn’t allowed an earned run since last May.
Dunker has signed with Northeastern Junior Collge in Sterling.
Short stuff
- Regis Jesuit, already likely to move into Class 5A baseball’s No. 1 spot next Monday following ThunderRidge’s loss to Mountain Vista, got a big piece back Thursday when left-handed pitcher David Peterson returned to the mound in an 8-1 win over Ponderosa. He threw just one inning. Peterson, an Oregon recruit, fractured his right fibula before the season and was originally expected to miss the entire season. “Great to get back on the mound last night for the first time. Can’t thank my team enough for being the most supportive guys through all this,” he tweeted. Regis, meanwhile, has won eight-straight games.
- On its Facebook page, Castle View announced it has hired Russ McKinstry as boys basketball coach. The move could shake up the Continental League a bit, where Castle View hasn’t been much of a contender in recent years. The SaberCats are just 29-62 since the 2010-11 season, including 9-32 in the Continental. They haven’t ever finished higher than eighth in the league. McKinstry led Lewis-Palmer to back-to-back 4A titles in 2012 — that team included CU’s Josh Scott — and 2013, but resigned last summer. “I’ve always felt like there was a very high ceiling for potential growth in Castle View’s boys basketball program,” McKinstry told the Facebook page.
- Another big boys basketball coaching move: Douglas County tabbed former Nugget Earl Boykins, according to Basketball Colorado. Boykins played in Denver from 2003-07, and played in the NBA for 16 seasons.
- MaxPreps’ computer rankings have made their spring debut in many sports. Included are baseball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse. Girls soccer‘s rankings were already up and running. Because the computer rankings uses a complex algorithm, a certain number of games are needed before the data is unveiled.
