Friday, March 21, 1997

Shira plays baseball for the fun of it

By BILL HART

Chas Shira admits football is still the sport at Hamlin High School and that he plays baseball for the enjoyment.

But if he continues to throw no-hitters, baseball may climb a little higher in his priorities.

Two weeks ago against Winters, he threw a no-hitter but walked two. Now, no-hitters are not that uncommon when a smaller classification school has a strong-armed pitcher.

He got a save in his next appearance, a two-inning stint against Anson when he struck out all six batters he faced. That's nine innings, no runs and no hits.

Then Tuesday, the 6-4, 205-pound junior threw a perfect game against Hawley, striking out 17 of the 21 batters he faced.

In 24 innings of work this year, he's posted a 2-0 record, has struck out 43 of the 95 batters he's faced, allowed only 13 hits, walked six and hit three batters. His earned-run average is 1.90. He left in another game trailing, but he wound up with a no decision when the Pied Pipers rallied for the win.

When he's not pitching, Shira plays third base. That allows freshman Ernie Herrera to pitch. In some games, they have both worked so that Herrera can gain as much experience as possible.

Shira went to a full count - three balls and two strikes - on just three batters against Hawley. He credits his teammates' play in the seventh inning to keep the perfect game intact.

"Timmy Davis made a spectacular catch in center field for the second out. I thought it was going to drop and ruin things," Shira said. "Then their next batter swung at a high pitch on a 3-2 count for the final out. It might have been a strike - it looked high to me, but thank goodness the batter swung at it."

The other three outs came on two infield popups and a ground out.

The only statistic that Shira is interested in is his earned run average, but he can't tell you exactly what it is.

"Something like 3.0 as a freshman and a little lower than that last year when I lost a couple of games," he said.

He doesn't keep up with his wins either; he leaves all the stats to his coach, Russell Lucas.

Shira has been a pitcher since Little League because he was taller than his teammates, which allowed him to throw harder from the short distance. He says he probably had some no-hitters, but Tuesday's gem against Hawley was his first perfect game.

Shira is also the quarterback on the Pied Piper football team, which he thinks has helped him as a pitcher.

"I throw the football almost every day in the off-season and that helps strengthen my arm and work out any soreness," Shira said. "I usually try to throw the football the year round, and that's where I'm going when we get through talking."

Despite his success in baseball, he rarely spends time playing it except during the season. There's not a summer teen-age program at Hamlin presently, but Shira is hoping a team can be formed this year, even if they have to play in an Abilene league. Otherwise, he may go to Burkburnett to play for the Black Sox.

"A scout came to one of my games last year and encouraged me to play in the summer at Burkburnett, but I didn't," Shira said. "I might have gone if I could stay for only half of the season, then come home and get ready for football.

"We didn't make the playoffs last fall for the first time since middle school and we want to redeem ourselves. We didn't do it in basketball, so maybe we can in baseball."

If he keeps throwing no-hitters, there'll be a lot of redemption for the Pied Pipers.