With his team piling up the runs, all Nawid Yilmaz was concerned about was getting the ball across the plate. Little did he know what he was about to accomplish.
The third-year standout with the Richmond Chuckers of the B.C. Midget AAA Baseball League tossed a perfect game in a 12-0 victory over South Okanagan back on April 28 in Penticton.
"The first three innings were just like any other game," recalled the Grade 12 student at Cambie secondary school. "I really wasn't thinking about anything. We had scored a bunch of runs so I just wanted to keep throwing strikes and force them to put the ball in play."
The Chuckers were poised for a mercy rule victory and Yilmaz's only worry was making sure South Okanagan wasn't going to cut into the sizable lead.
"Later on when I was about to go back to the mound I asked one of our assistant coaches how many hits and walks had I given up. He couldn't believe I would ask that and thought I had jinxed myself," laughed Yilmaz.
Instead he went out for the fifth inning and took care of business, striking out the final batter to accomplish one of baseball's rarest feats for the first time in his career. In Major League Baseball, a perfect game has been achieved just 27 times in the past 132 years.
"It is something that you don't really look at until after the game is over," continued Yilmaz. "There were a couple of plays where our third baseman and centre fielder had to dive to get to balls. It easily could have ended right there."
Yilmaz is now 3-0 on the season and the Chuckers are enjoying an impressive campaign with a 9-3 record heading into this weekend's road games against Cowichan and Victoria.
When not on the mound, he plays shortstop and would like to continue his baseball career at the collegiate level next season.
Despite a busy schedule, Yilmaz somehow finds the time to serve as an assistant coach with a Richmond Mosquito team and also volunteers at the Cambie Community Centre.
"I just think it's important to give back to something that has done a lot for you over the years," he explained.
