South Bend No-Hits Peoria, Celebrate 4-0 Dominant Victory

Cubs throw 10th no-hitter in total franchise history, 4th as South Bend Cubs

SOUTH BEND – At 9 a.m. Thursday morning, Frankie Scalzo Jr. was coaching young ballplayers at the Meijer Baseball Academy at Four Winds Field. At 9 p.m., he was closing out a no-hitter.

July 6 could certainly look down the road as the turnaround for the South Bend Cubs. After a challenging last two weeks, the Cubs finished off Thursday night with the 10th no-hitter in franchise history and the 4th as the South Bend Cubs. In a 4-0 final over the Peoria Chiefs, South Bend’s no-no was combined between Michael Arias, Jarod Wright, Eduarniel Nunez, and Scalzo Jr.

The day was one that was so unique. First, to begin the evening, South Bend and Peoria finished up their suspended game from Wednesday due to lightning and rain. The game last night was called in the bottom of the 9th inning as South Bend had the game-winning run at second base.

The Cubs were victorious in the completion of that game by a final of 7-6, as the game finished in 10 innings. Kevin Alcántara bounced out to end the 9th, and then Sheldon Reed worked a scoreless top of the 10th. In the bottom of the inning, Alcántara started as the automatic runner, and went to third, before ultimately scoring. Ed Howard chopped a ball back to the mound, and Chief’s right-hander Roy Garcia made a throwing error, allowing the Cubs to win.

There was then a 45-minute break, and the two clubs were back at it again. Michael Arias got the start for the Cubs, in his second Midwest League game and Four Winds Field debut. Arias walked four and struck out five, but didn’t surrender a hit in three innings.

At the plate, South Bend had a big second inning, where they scored the eventual game-winning runs. First, Ed Howard singled in the Cub’s first tally, and then Felix Stevens picked up an RBI hit. It was his first of two on the day, plus he had multiple amazing defensive plays at first base.

Up 2-0, South Bend turned to Jarod Wright. In his best performance of 2023, Wright threw four no-hit and shutout innings with two strikeouts. Eduarniel Nunez added a scoreless 8th, with Stevens making the play and save of the day on a diving catch robbing Nathan Church of a base hit. Stevens laid out and dove towards the first base foul line, committing larceny.

In the 9th, South Bend was up 4-0. Frankie Scalzo Jr. took the ball. Scalzo made the Chiefs go down quickly again, with just one man reaching with a walk. Scalzo struck out Jeremy Rivas to end the game, and the Cubs had their first no-hitter since 2021.

Of the four no-no’s to be thrown as the South Bend Cubs, three have come at Four Winds Field. 2018 with Rollie Lacy and Ben Hecht, and 2019 with Derek Casey and Peyton Remy. 2021 was at Fort Wayne.
South Bend puts a pair of wins away on a terrific Thursday. Their second-half record is 4-8, and they have a chance to finish off a huge weekend in Downtown South Bend. Connor Noland will pitch for the Cubs on Friday night as the Chiefs and Cubs will play again at 7:05 p.m.