Appleton, Wisconsin – Kendry Chourio and Emmanuel Reyes combined for the 13th no-hitter in River Bandits history Sunday, as Quad Cities (44-42, 14-9) blanked the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (48-37,14-9) 11-0 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
The no-hitter marks the River Bandits’ first since Zach Haake and Dante Biasi also blanked the Rattlers in Davenport on June 18, 2021 at Modern Woodmen Park.
Chourio, the Royals’ top prospect (MLB Pipeline), worked perfectly through the game’s first four frames and racked up seven of his career-high-matching 10 strikeouts, including a string of five-straight from the first out of the third to the second out of the fourth.
While Quad Cities’ bats were held scoreless through the first third of a game the first time since June 28, they broke loose in the fourth, jumping ahead 4-0 against Wisconsin right-hander Josh Knoth.
Luke Pelzer opened the scoring with an RBI-single, before Derlin Figueroa followed Jose Cerice’s RBI-groundout with his team-leading 18th home run of the season.
The very next inning, Blake Mitchell launched a two-run shot of his own off Knoth, the catcher’s 17th. Two batters later, Figueroa gave Quad Cities an 8-0 lead with a two-run triple to right-center field off the newly entered Quinton Low.
After beginning the bottom of the fifth with his eighth strikeout, Chourio yielded the first Rattlers’ base runner by walking Luis Castillo. Chourio then froze Daniel Guilarte with a curveball for his ninth punchout before Juan Baez reached on a fielding error on Diego Guzman. Chourio walked Luiyin Alastre to load the bases, but then ended his day with a strikeout of Yannic Walther to escape the jam.
Low returned to the mound for the Timber Rattlers in the sixth, but ran into more trouble, as Quad Cities plated its ninth run of the game on a pair of Wisconsin errors. After issuing back-to-back walks to Asbel Gonzalez and Blake Mitchell, Low was replaced by Peyton Niksch, who gave up two runs on Pelzer’s RBI-groundout and Cerice’s RBI-single.
Reyes, who was originally scheduled to start game two of Saturday’s doubleheader before it was canceled, took over for Chourio in the sixth and kept the Bandits’ 11-run lead intact, retiring the top third of Wisconsin’s lineup in order.
While Niksch (1.2 IP), Yerlin Rodrigeuz (1.0 IP), and Michael Fowler (1.0 IP) allowed just one Bandits base runner over the final third of the game, a Trevor Werner double in the seventh, Reyes did not require any additional insurance, continuing his perfect start all the way through the final out of the game, inducing three strikeouts.
The right-hander secured Quad Cities’ historic victory and a 4.0-inning save after getting the reigning Midwest League Player of the Week Daniel Dickinson to ground out to Cerice at third base for the final out in the ninth.
Chourio (2-1) earned the win for the River Bandits, while Knoth (2-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs on eight hits and three strikeouts.
After sweeping the three-game weekend set against Wisconsin, Quad Cities continues its nine-game road trip through America’s Dairyland with a six-game series against the Beloit Sky Carp, the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, beginning Tuesday, July 21 at ABC Supply Stadium.