Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Tanner, Stevens accomplish rare double no-hitter

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Friday, April 7, 2000

Tanner, Stevens accomplish rare double no-hitter
Only .000169 percent chance of G-P, Sinton pitchers' feat occurring
By George Vondracek
Caller-Times

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Sinton pitcher Amanda Stevens (left) and Gregory-Portland pitcher Lauren Tanner both threw no-hitters when their teams played each other Saturday.

SINTON - Throwing a no-hitter is nothing new for Amanda Stevens and Lauren Tanner. Combined, they've tossed 23 no-nos since they began their high school pitching careers.
   But throwing a no-hitter on the same day - against each other - was something entirely different.
   Friends since their days on area youth-league teams when they were seventh graders, the two juniors hooked up in yet another battle last Saturday when Stevens' Sinton Lady Pirates entertained Tanner's Gregory-Portland Lady Wildcats in a non-district softball game.
   After seven innings, neither team had a hit. The coaches, Sinton's Wade Wilson and G-P's Laurie Beveridge, mutually agreed to halt the game and declare a 0-0 tie, the first in what is becoming a mini-rivalry softball series between the two schools.
   Long odds
   No-hitters aren't uncommon in softball, especially with pitchers the caliber of Stevens and Tanner. Given the 13 softball no-hitters pitched so far in the area this year, and using a formula provided by Hal Stern, a statistician at Iowa State University, there is roughly a 1.3 percent chance of a girl throwing a no-hitter in a game.
   The odds of no-hitters being thrown in the same game decrease; there is roughly a .000169 percent chance of it happening, according to Stern's formula.
   Tanner, meanwhile, has made a habit of throwing no-hitters. She has pitched three consecutive no-hitters over a 10-day span, blanking Alice (13-0 on March 28), Sinton (0-0 last Saturday) and Rockport-Fulton (11-0 on Tuesday).
   Tanner will go for a fourth straight no-hitter tonight at Robstown. The national record for most consecutive no-hitters in softball is shared by two players, Halee Webb of Abbeville, SC (1992) and Marci Whitehead of Damascus, MD (1991).
   "Those (Tanner and Stevens) are two incredibly good pitchers," Beveridge said. "The intensity, I can't even describe the intensity of the game. Those pitchers got ready and the environment they created was incredible. You could feel it when you walked through the gate, and everybody played at that level."
   Fielder's dream
   "I didn't even know we threw no-hitters until after the game," said Stevens, 14-4 so far this season with 116 strikeouts and two no-hitters.
   "I don't really think about it," said Tanner, the area's leader in wins (21), earned-run average (0.29), strikeouts (254) and no-hitters (four). "I just think about the best place to throw the pitch, not so much where they'll miss it, but not right down the middle. I want them to hit it where our fielders can catch it."
   Saturday, both sets of fielders did just that.
   Stevens and Tanner each faced 23 batters and recorded seven strikeouts. Sinton (19-6-1) hit only one ball out of the infield, but only one runner for G-P (23-2-1) - catcher Tania Yanta - reached base, that on an error.
   The Lady Pirates, who reached the Class 3A state tournament a year ago, had a runner as far as third base - Amy Kastner reached on an error and stole two bases in the third - but Tanner (21-1-1) ended the threat with a strikeout.
   "It was a great game," said Wilson, in his second year as Sinton's coach. "It was great for the kids to be a part of it. Coach Beveridge does a great job with those kids. I think coach Beveridge would say the same thing about her team. Our team is built around defense and pitching."
   Postgame review
   Born just 10 days apart in 1982, Stevens and Tanner didn't have a chance to rehash their efforts following the memorable game.
   "Right after the game, we didn't talk much, but I called her after the game," said Stevens, who at 5-foot-7 stands about three inches taller than Tanner. "We talked about how awesome our teams played. I really look up to Lauren."
   Neither player said she was particularly impressed with throwing a no-hitter - Stevens has seven in the last two years while Tanner has 16 in her career.
   Both were more concerned with the benefits their team reaped by playing each other. G-P owns two other wins over Sinton, 3-2 and 1-0 victories the last two seasons at Victoria's tournament.
   "When you face pitchers like Lauren, it's always going to make you better," Stevens said. "We found out what it was like last year, and now it only gets better. It was almost like a playoff game."


Staff Writer George Vondracek can be reached at 886-3731 or by e-mail at vondracekg@caller.com

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