These 4 Chicago Cubs pitching prospects combined to toss a no-hitter in South Bend Thursday

SOUTH BEND — For the first time in nearly two years, the South Bend Cubs have thrown a no-hitter.

Four pitchers — Michael Arias, Jarod Wright, Eduarniel Nunez and Frankie Scalzo Jr. — combined Thursday in a 4-0 win over the Peoria Chiefs at Four Winds Field. It’s the 10th no-hitter in South Bend franchise history and the fourth since joining the Chicago Cubs organization in 2014.

“Happy it happened,” Cubs manager Lance Rymel said. “I’m happy for these guys because they work their tails off. It was a great Thursday here in South Bend.”

The game didn’t feel like a no-hitter early. Arias started the game, issuing four walks across his three innings of work. In fact, the Chiefs loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second inning on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. Arias was able to escape the threat, striking out Peoria’s Alex Iadisernia to end the frame.

After Arias pitched one inning, the ball was given to Wright. The 6-foot-3 right hander was in control during his four innings of work, allowing just one walk while striking out two.

While he didn’t think about the no-hitter when he first came into the game, the thought crossed Wright’s mind once the game started reaching the later stages.

“I had no clue until about the sixth inning,” Wright admitted. “I definitely knew I had to shut my mouth about it and not say anything. Not until about the eighth inning did I start looking around and noticed some of the other guys thinking the same thing.”

Rymel didn’t think about the no-hitter until Wright finished his outing.

“I knew with Nunez and Scalzo coming, I thought, ‘They might not get a hit tonight,’” Rymel said.

Nunez then came into the game, having the most efficient outing of the quartet. He only pitched one inning, but he struck out two batters and did not allow a baserunner.

The non-strikeout out of the frame proved to be huge, as Peoria’s Nathan Church hit a strong lineball that seemed destined to go down the right field line for a double. Cubs first baseman Felix Stevens had other ideas, however, extending to make a diving catch to keep the no-hitter alive.

“There’s always that one play, right?” Rymel remarked. “When you’re watching a no-hitter, there’s always that one play defensively out there that keeps it intact. That was the play there.”

Rymel then turned to Scalzo Jr. to finish the game.

“It was fun getting your name called in that situation, going in and knowing that, yeah, there’s some pressure, but everyone is fighting for this,” Scalzo Jr. said. “It was a fun type of pressure. … It was still nerve-wracking. The heart rate was up, the fans were loud. It was awesome, but it was intense.”

Scalzo Jr. issued a one-out walk to Peoria’s Aaron McKeithan, but then got a flyout of Thomas Francisco and a strikeout of Jeremy Rivas to end the contest and secure his place in South Bend Cubs history.

The party on the pitcher’s mound quickly ensued. “It was surreal,” Scalzo Jr. said. “I didn’t know when we were really going to start celebrating or not. I wasn’t expecting them to get me with the Gatorade cooler right away. It was super cool. You feel on top of the world in that moment.”

The last South Bend no-hitter came on August 12, 2021 when Alexander Vizcaino, Joe Nahas and Burl Carraway combined against the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

The Cubs scored two runs in the bottom of the second, and one more each in the seventh and eighth innings. Kevin Alcantara had three hits to lead a 10-hit effort.

It was the second win of the day for the Cubs (34-43), who defeated the Chiefs in a game that was suspended in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday night. The contest was finished Thursday, with South Bend winning, 7-6, in 10 innings after Alcantara scored on a fielding error from Peoria’s Roy Garcia.

Rymel hopes the two dramatic wins will help spark his team, which had gone 4-15 in its previous 19 games heading into Thursday.

“Anytime you can get two wins in one day, it’s a good steppingstone,” Rymel said. “The second half is still young. If you watched us last year, we turned it on in the second half. I expect the same thing, and I think these guys do, too. It’s going to be a fun second half.”

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 4 Chicago Cubs pitching prospects combine for no-hiiter in South Bend