Teenage Phenom Seeking Redemption After Tragic Accident
Pop.......pop.......pop......pop......pop......pop
Like clockwork, every five or six seconds, the steady beat of ball meeting catcher's mitt pierced the air. Never missing its target by more than maybe a few inches, and with palm blistering velocity. The person unleashing those darts was a seventeen year old who once again had scouts lining up to see him throw. It was a hot mid-afternoon day in May, just a few weeks before the MLB draft, and Justin Blanton was putting on a dazzling display of pitches for the four or five scouts that bothered to show-up. You see, just two years ago there was an event that shook up the entire community. An event that caught the attention of even national news stations. And at the center of it all? Blanton, of course. Sure, it was an accident, and if you asked him, Blanton would tell you that it wishes everyday he was the one that wasn't here anymore. Had that never happened, then there would literally be dozens of scouts packed in to see him throw his mid-90's fastball and knee-bending curve ball.
Blanton, a tall lanky right-hander from a small town about 15 miles northeast of Fort Smith, Arkansas, called Alma, still loses sleep over a decision he made on a Friday night after spending the evening drinking with a few buddies at a friend's house. While underage, the evening was planned to be nothing more than a group 15 and 16 year old high school kids goofing off and having some fun. Why not? They had just finished up their sophomore season, a season that saw them finish with a conference and state championship. Even better was that the team's core would have two more seasons to add to their trophy case. Along with Blanton, Kyle Dennis, Josiah Wittek, Davin Moses, and Levi Luttrell, were all very promising 10th graders and they were just there that night to celebrate their future and their successful sophomore season. However, as one might assume, 15 and 16 year old kids drinking alcohol tend to lead to bad decisions. As Blanton told me his story, I could tell he was struggling with what happened to this day....
"I don't know, it was like 11:30, close to midnight, and we started gettin' restless. I wouldn't say any of us were so drunk we could barely stand, but we all had more than 'a few'. I was the only one with a car and felt like I was OK enough to drive. I mean, even then, I was a big kid. I hadn't really drank before, but felt like I could hold my alcohol pretty well. We got the bright idea to get in my car and drive down the road to Lee Creek. It was only bout five or six miles from the house were at. I thought I Could surely get us to the creek, no problem. Well, the last mile or two to the creek is a dirt road with some twists and turns. I don't remember much else after that. I've tried my hardest to block it out. So have Kevin and Levi, but it's still hard to forget all of it. I don't know....I guess I got goin' a little too fast and misjudged one of the turns. My back tires spun out and I lost control of the truck. We went spinnin' and the last thing I remember is a loud bang. The policeman that was apparently the first on the scene said Levi called him and told him we had been in a bad wreck. Said we went over a bank on the side of the road and slammed into a tree pretty hard. I felt like, then, that I wished I had died instead of making it to the hospital. I didn't want to really know, but I had to ask what happened to the other guys.....that's when I knew something bad had happened. My mom was in the room and had to leave. So, it was up to dad. He sat down and told me how Josiah and Kyle didn't make. Said they were sitting on the side of the truck that hit the tree and they couldn't be revived once they got them to the hospital....."
As you can imagine, this would turn any 15 year old kid's world upside down. After spending some time in a juvenile detention center, Blanton spent the rest of that summer blocked off from the rest of the world. His mom - Elaine - said, "He'd just lay in his room all day long, in the dark. He was unresponsive. The only times he left his room were to use the bathroom and to eat. He barely spoke and you could tell he had lost the will to even attempt to function. One day, though, during September of his junior year, he walked into the living room after his father and I had gotten home from work. We were sitting there talking and he just broke down. The three of us, along with his younger brother, sat there the rest of that evening and night consoling him and comforting him. It was what we had been waiting for, but had given up hope of ever happening. Since then he hasn't been his normal self, but he's at least gone back to school."
So, what about baseball? Blanton, who now stands a towering 6'6" with a long 225 pound frame, was coming off a freshman year where he pitched his team to a state championship. He finished that season with a 13-1 record with a 1.21 ERA, and struck out 148 batters. Last year, though, as a junior, Blanton struggled most of the season. Sure, his natural ability took over at times, and he looked dominant. He and the rest of the team, though, struggled to get over the loss of two teammates, and struggled to a 9-24 record, and missed the state playoffs after finishing 7th in the conference. Blanton had decent numbers (7-4, 2.59 ERA, 113 strikeouts) but nowhere near the dominance he showed as a sophomore.
It was the summer between his junior and senior seasons when Blanton decided it was time to change. He called a meeting between only the seniors on the team. There were eight remaining, and all eight started or saw significant time on the field as sophomores during the state championship run. He wouldn't go into details about the meeting, "It's classified" he told me with a wink. Whatever was said, though, did something, and Alma returned to being the team they were two seasons ago. Blanton broke out of his funk, the rest of the team started to have fun once again, and they returned back to the days when they were 10 and 11 year olds playing on a small dirt lot in 100 degree heat, just because they loved playing baseball. Blanton finished up his senior campaign with a 15-0 record, a 1.08 ERA, and struck-out 214 batters. On top of that, he lead his team to a second state championship. So, why was Blanton still struggling to get attention from pro and college scouts? Two years ago he was as hot of baseball prospect as any high school player in the nation. "People don't want to deal with me anymore. I've had several college coaches tell me they couldn't take a risk on a kid who not only made a terrible decision, but could slip back into being a depressed basket case. And, you know how these things work. Word spread and, before too long, almost every pro and college scout lost interest and stopped calling."
However, there was one team that didn't give up on him. There was one team that kept calling. Todd Gramlich, a scout in the Texas Ranges organization, kept telling the Rangers front office that, "This kid has as much potential as any pitcher at this age that I've ever seen." So, Gramlich stayed on top of Blanton, even after the accident. "I don't know why I didn't quit on him after that happened. I've been doing this for a long time, though, and I can count on one hand the number of high school pitchers that had the stuff he has at such a young age." So, even as Blanton went into a funk, hit a speed bump during his junior year, and showed little promise of returning to his old-self, Gramlich and the Rangers remained the only team showing interest. "They never gave-up on me. I even remember looking at my caller-ID, during all of those days in my room, and seeing Tom's number on the screen. He must've called 100-200 times that summer, and I didn't answer once. But he just kept at it. I liked that."
With the MLB draft just a few weeks away the Rangers know they can not be guaranteed Blanton will be there waiting. However, since no other team has showed any willingness to draft Blanton in the first 10 rounds, there's a very good chance they will be able to get him with one of their first 5-10 picks. "Look, we love the kid and his potential. He's moved on and shown a lot of maturity in the last year in moving on from what he did. He knows he messed up. I know his psyche may still seem a little fragile, but he still has more upside than anyone in this draft class" said Gramlich. Whether it will happen or not remains to be seen.
Know this, though. Justin Blanton is just a 17 year old kid who wants one last chance at redemption. One last chance to show that he's a changed person and what happened on that dreadful night is in his past. He has not forgotten the two friends he lost that night. In fact, he has their initials tattooed across the top of his right wrist so he can see be reminded of why he's doing this every time he gets set on the mound. If you're hearing the name Justin Blanton followed by 20** Cy Young Award Winner sometime in the not so distant future, though, don't be surprised.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rangers Help Blanton Realize Dream
It took a while, but yesterday afternoon the Texas Rangers helped a troubled 17 year old kid realize his dream. After essentially every other team in baseball showed no interest in drafting the 6'6" righty out of Alma High School in Arkansas, the Rangers remained true to their word, and drafted Blanton. "They told me if I was still on the board in the 10th round, they would take me. Believe it or not, after I was still sitting on the board in the ninth round, a few other teams called me and started talking. Said they were thinking about taking me if I was still on the board in the next several rounds. But, I'm glad it was Texas. They were the ones that didn't give up on me. They are the ones that stayed with me. I wanted a chance to return the favor by working my tail off to show them they didn't make a mistake."
Blanton will begin the season with the Frisco RoughRiders, the Rangers AA affiliate in Frisco, Texas, coming out of the bullpen.
Texas Rangers President and, hall of fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan had this to say after the draft: "We're glad to have him. I don't know how long it will be, though. I had a chance to watch him throw a couple of sessions for us last week before the drat, and let's just say I was left speechless. His fastball explodes out of his hand and his curveball just falls off as it reaches the plate. Thing is, he throws a changeup that's a good 10-12 miles per hour slower than his fastball. We clocked him topping out around 96 with his fastball. But he's 17 and still has plenty of room to grow. I honestly think had this kid not had that mishap a few years ago, he would have been the unanimous number one pick for this class by everyone. He's that promising. I know everyone else is worried about his fragile psyche. I'd be lying if we weren't, too. Pitching is just as much mental as it is physical. His mom and dad said he still has lapses where he goes into a funk, won't really talk to anyone, and holes himself off from all his friends and family. That does worry us. But, he deserves a shot, doesn't he? I will personally be keeping close tabs on him as he hopefully works his way up to the show. I know a thing or two about pitching, though, and this kid may have more natural ability and more physical ability than any pitcher I've ever seen."
Minor League Appearance by Appearance Stats
04/09/2011: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
04/15/2011: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
5/12/2011: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K (W, 3-1)
5/17/2011: 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K (W, 4-1)
5/22/2011: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (W, 5-1)
5/28/2011: 8.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K (W, 6-1)
6/3/2011: 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (W, 7-1)
Pop.......pop.......pop......pop......pop......pop
Like clockwork, every five or six seconds, the steady beat of ball meeting catcher's mitt pierced the air. Never missing its target by more than maybe a few inches, and with palm blistering velocity. The person unleashing those darts was a seventeen year old who once again had scouts lining up to see him throw. It was a hot mid-afternoon day in May, just a few weeks before the MLB draft, and Justin Blanton was putting on a dazzling display of pitches for the four or five scouts that bothered to show-up. You see, just two years ago there was an event that shook up the entire community. An event that caught the attention of even national news stations. And at the center of it all? Blanton, of course. Sure, it was an accident, and if you asked him, Blanton would tell you that it wishes everyday he was the one that wasn't here anymore. Had that never happened, then there would literally be dozens of scouts packed in to see him throw his mid-90's fastball and knee-bending curve ball.
Blanton, a tall lanky right-hander from a small town about 15 miles northeast of Fort Smith, Arkansas, called Alma, still loses sleep over a decision he made on a Friday night after spending the evening drinking with a few buddies at a friend's house. While underage, the evening was planned to be nothing more than a group 15 and 16 year old high school kids goofing off and having some fun. Why not? They had just finished up their sophomore season, a season that saw them finish with a conference and state championship. Even better was that the team's core would have two more seasons to add to their trophy case. Along with Blanton, Kyle Dennis, Josiah Wittek, Davin Moses, and Levi Luttrell, were all very promising 10th graders and they were just there that night to celebrate their future and their successful sophomore season. However, as one might assume, 15 and 16 year old kids drinking alcohol tend to lead to bad decisions. As Blanton told me his story, I could tell he was struggling with what happened to this day....
"I don't know, it was like 11:30, close to midnight, and we started gettin' restless. I wouldn't say any of us were so drunk we could barely stand, but we all had more than 'a few'. I was the only one with a car and felt like I was OK enough to drive. I mean, even then, I was a big kid. I hadn't really drank before, but felt like I could hold my alcohol pretty well. We got the bright idea to get in my car and drive down the road to Lee Creek. It was only bout five or six miles from the house were at. I thought I Could surely get us to the creek, no problem. Well, the last mile or two to the creek is a dirt road with some twists and turns. I don't remember much else after that. I've tried my hardest to block it out. So have Kevin and Levi, but it's still hard to forget all of it. I don't know....I guess I got goin' a little too fast and misjudged one of the turns. My back tires spun out and I lost control of the truck. We went spinnin' and the last thing I remember is a loud bang. The policeman that was apparently the first on the scene said Levi called him and told him we had been in a bad wreck. Said we went over a bank on the side of the road and slammed into a tree pretty hard. I felt like, then, that I wished I had died instead of making it to the hospital. I didn't want to really know, but I had to ask what happened to the other guys.....that's when I knew something bad had happened. My mom was in the room and had to leave. So, it was up to dad. He sat down and told me how Josiah and Kyle didn't make. Said they were sitting on the side of the truck that hit the tree and they couldn't be revived once they got them to the hospital....."
As you can imagine, this would turn any 15 year old kid's world upside down. After spending some time in a juvenile detention center, Blanton spent the rest of that summer blocked off from the rest of the world. His mom - Elaine - said, "He'd just lay in his room all day long, in the dark. He was unresponsive. The only times he left his room were to use the bathroom and to eat. He barely spoke and you could tell he had lost the will to even attempt to function. One day, though, during September of his junior year, he walked into the living room after his father and I had gotten home from work. We were sitting there talking and he just broke down. The three of us, along with his younger brother, sat there the rest of that evening and night consoling him and comforting him. It was what we had been waiting for, but had given up hope of ever happening. Since then he hasn't been his normal self, but he's at least gone back to school."
So, what about baseball? Blanton, who now stands a towering 6'6" with a long 225 pound frame, was coming off a freshman year where he pitched his team to a state championship. He finished that season with a 13-1 record with a 1.21 ERA, and struck out 148 batters. Last year, though, as a junior, Blanton struggled most of the season. Sure, his natural ability took over at times, and he looked dominant. He and the rest of the team, though, struggled to get over the loss of two teammates, and struggled to a 9-24 record, and missed the state playoffs after finishing 7th in the conference. Blanton had decent numbers (7-4, 2.59 ERA, 113 strikeouts) but nowhere near the dominance he showed as a sophomore.
It was the summer between his junior and senior seasons when Blanton decided it was time to change. He called a meeting between only the seniors on the team. There were eight remaining, and all eight started or saw significant time on the field as sophomores during the state championship run. He wouldn't go into details about the meeting, "It's classified" he told me with a wink. Whatever was said, though, did something, and Alma returned to being the team they were two seasons ago. Blanton broke out of his funk, the rest of the team started to have fun once again, and they returned back to the days when they were 10 and 11 year olds playing on a small dirt lot in 100 degree heat, just because they loved playing baseball. Blanton finished up his senior campaign with a 15-0 record, a 1.08 ERA, and struck-out 214 batters. On top of that, he lead his team to a second state championship. So, why was Blanton still struggling to get attention from pro and college scouts? Two years ago he was as hot of baseball prospect as any high school player in the nation. "People don't want to deal with me anymore. I've had several college coaches tell me they couldn't take a risk on a kid who not only made a terrible decision, but could slip back into being a depressed basket case. And, you know how these things work. Word spread and, before too long, almost every pro and college scout lost interest and stopped calling."
However, there was one team that didn't give up on him. There was one team that kept calling. Todd Gramlich, a scout in the Texas Ranges organization, kept telling the Rangers front office that, "This kid has as much potential as any pitcher at this age that I've ever seen." So, Gramlich stayed on top of Blanton, even after the accident. "I don't know why I didn't quit on him after that happened. I've been doing this for a long time, though, and I can count on one hand the number of high school pitchers that had the stuff he has at such a young age." So, even as Blanton went into a funk, hit a speed bump during his junior year, and showed little promise of returning to his old-self, Gramlich and the Rangers remained the only team showing interest. "They never gave-up on me. I even remember looking at my caller-ID, during all of those days in my room, and seeing Tom's number on the screen. He must've called 100-200 times that summer, and I didn't answer once. But he just kept at it. I liked that."
With the MLB draft just a few weeks away the Rangers know they can not be guaranteed Blanton will be there waiting. However, since no other team has showed any willingness to draft Blanton in the first 10 rounds, there's a very good chance they will be able to get him with one of their first 5-10 picks. "Look, we love the kid and his potential. He's moved on and shown a lot of maturity in the last year in moving on from what he did. He knows he messed up. I know his psyche may still seem a little fragile, but he still has more upside than anyone in this draft class" said Gramlich. Whether it will happen or not remains to be seen.
Know this, though. Justin Blanton is just a 17 year old kid who wants one last chance at redemption. One last chance to show that he's a changed person and what happened on that dreadful night is in his past. He has not forgotten the two friends he lost that night. In fact, he has their initials tattooed across the top of his right wrist so he can see be reminded of why he's doing this every time he gets set on the mound. If you're hearing the name Justin Blanton followed by 20** Cy Young Award Winner sometime in the not so distant future, though, don't be surprised.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rangers Help Blanton Realize Dream
It took a while, but yesterday afternoon the Texas Rangers helped a troubled 17 year old kid realize his dream. After essentially every other team in baseball showed no interest in drafting the 6'6" righty out of Alma High School in Arkansas, the Rangers remained true to their word, and drafted Blanton. "They told me if I was still on the board in the 10th round, they would take me. Believe it or not, after I was still sitting on the board in the ninth round, a few other teams called me and started talking. Said they were thinking about taking me if I was still on the board in the next several rounds. But, I'm glad it was Texas. They were the ones that didn't give up on me. They are the ones that stayed with me. I wanted a chance to return the favor by working my tail off to show them they didn't make a mistake."
Blanton will begin the season with the Frisco RoughRiders, the Rangers AA affiliate in Frisco, Texas, coming out of the bullpen.
Texas Rangers President and, hall of fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan had this to say after the draft: "We're glad to have him. I don't know how long it will be, though. I had a chance to watch him throw a couple of sessions for us last week before the drat, and let's just say I was left speechless. His fastball explodes out of his hand and his curveball just falls off as it reaches the plate. Thing is, he throws a changeup that's a good 10-12 miles per hour slower than his fastball. We clocked him topping out around 96 with his fastball. But he's 17 and still has plenty of room to grow. I honestly think had this kid not had that mishap a few years ago, he would have been the unanimous number one pick for this class by everyone. He's that promising. I know everyone else is worried about his fragile psyche. I'd be lying if we weren't, too. Pitching is just as much mental as it is physical. His mom and dad said he still has lapses where he goes into a funk, won't really talk to anyone, and holes himself off from all his friends and family. That does worry us. But, he deserves a shot, doesn't he? I will personally be keeping close tabs on him as he hopefully works his way up to the show. I know a thing or two about pitching, though, and this kid may have more natural ability and more physical ability than any pitcher I've ever seen."
Minor League Appearance by Appearance Stats
04/08/2011: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
| Springfield Cardinals at Frisco RoughRiders | ||||||||||||
| Apr 8, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Springfield Cardinals | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 0 |
| Frisco RoughRiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 0 |
| W: Branden Keiper (1-0) L: Justin Gindl (0-1) | ||||||||||||
04/09/2011: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
| Springfield Cardinals at Frisco RoughRiders | ||||||||||||
| Apr 9, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Springfield Cardinals | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 3 |
| Frisco RoughRiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| W: Valerio Navarro (1-0) L: Morris Lund (1-0) S: Ridley (1) | ||||||||||||
04/15/2011: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
| Frisco RoughRiders at Springfield Cardinals | ||||||||||||
| Apr 15, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Frisco RoughRiders | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 |
| Springfield Cardinals | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| W: Humphries (1-0) L: Pool (0-2) | ||||||||||||
04/19/2011: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (W, 1-0)
| Frisco RoughRiders at Arkansas Travelers | ||||||||||||
| Apr 19, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Frisco RoughRiders () | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 1 |
| Arkansas Travelers () | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 |
| W: Blanton (1-0) L: Romero (0-2) S: Huff (3) | ||||||||||||
04/21/2011: 3.0 IP, 3H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
| Corpus Christi Hooks at Frisco RoughRiders | ||||||||||||
| Apr 21, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Corpus Christi Hooks | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Frisco RoughRiders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Wolf (1-2) L: Hutton (2-1) S: Correa (4) | ||||||||||||
04/26/2011: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (L, 1-1) *First Start
| Frisco RoughRiders at San Antonio Missions | ||||||||||||
| Apr 26, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Frisco RoughRiders | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| San Antonio Missions | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Sandoval (2-2) L: Blanton (1-10 S: Mims (4) | ||||||||||||
5/1/2011: 8.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
| Frisco Roughriders at Corpus Christi Hooks | ||||||||||||
| May 1, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Frisco Roughriders | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| Corpus Christi Hooks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
5/6/2011: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
| San Antonio Mission at Frisco Roughriders | ||||||||||||
| May 6, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| San Antonio Mission | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Frisco Roughriders | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
5/12/2011: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K (W, 3-1)
| Corpus Christi Hooks at Frisco Roughriders | ||||||||||||
| May 12, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Corpus Christi Hooks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| Frisco Roughriders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 |
5/17/2011: 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K (W, 4-1)
| Midland Rockhounds at Frisco Roughriders | ||||||||||||
| May 17, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Midland Rockhounds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Frisco Roughriders | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 9 | 1 |
5/22/2011: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (W, 5-1)
| Frisco Roughriders at San Antonio Mission | ||||||||||||
| May 22, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Frisco Roughriders | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| San Antonio Mission | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
5/28/2011: 8.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K (W, 6-1)
| Tulsa Drillers at Frisco Roughriders | ||||||||||||
| May 28, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Tulsa Drillers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Frisco Roughriders | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 3 | 11 | 0 |
6/3/2011: 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (W, 7-1)
| Frisco Roghriders at Northwest Arkansas Naturals | ||||||||||||
| June 3, 20111 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Frisco Roughriders | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 18 | 0 |
| Northwest Arkansas Naturals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
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