Pitcher

Northern of Calvert coach Mike Johnson calls Kelly Shipman a "once in a lifetime" pitcher.Last night in the Class 4A state championship game at Randazzo Park in Severn, fourth-seeded Perry Hall found out why.The junior windmiller tossed a no-hitter, striking out 16, and the Patriots' potent lineup did the rest en route to a 10-0 victory, giving third-seeded Northern its first-ever state title.It was her sixth no-hitter of the season, and her second straight.She became the only pitcher in state playoff history to throw back-to-back no-hitters in the semifinals and finals.

Three days later, it still hasn't sunk in. Mike Morgan, a $3 million man. Just what everyone expected when he pitched for the Orioles in 1988.Mike Morgan, the guy who gave up six straight hits without getting an out in Kansas City to send the Orioles to 0-16. Mike Morgan, the guy who won only one game the entire year.Morgan, 32, had three decent seasons in Los Angeles, but still was only 33-36. He's coming off his first winning year, and his career began in 1978. Lifetime, he's 67-104.You think the New York Mets giving Bobby Bonilla $29 million is crazy?

BOSTON - The man in the boot is about to take the mound for the Red Sox. The man in the boot is about to become the most bizarre twist in a long and incredibly twisted tale of the Red Sox's quest to beat the New York Yankees. No chance, right? Fuggetaboutit, right? Deny if you must, but deny at your own risk the plausibility that this implausible scenario is finally the thing that breaks the 86-year logjam for the cursed Red Sox. Take your No Doz. Prepare. Take with a grain of salt what Yankees manager Joe Torre says when he says things are cool.

Summer might not seem like much of a vacation for Mount Hebron's Jenny Joyce.Although Joyce plans to travel -- to Oklahoma City and, she hopes, Sacramento -- she won't find much time for sightseeing.Next month, the second-team All-Metro pitcher will try to help the Chesapeake Chargers earn a spot in the Amateur Softball Association 18-and-under national championships in Sacramento in August. Invited to the Hall of Fame Tournament in Oklahoma City, the Chargers must finish in the top eight of the 16-team field to earn a bid to the nationals.

Ernest Burke, a pitcher and outfielder for the Baltimore Elite Giants of the old Negro Leagues who became an anti-drug role model for young baseball players and students, died of complications from kidney cancer Saturday at Good Samaritan Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 79. One of the first black Marines to serve in the Pacific during World War II, he began playing professionally in 1946 for Baltimore's segregated team. He played four seasons here, then three more with the St. Jean team in the Canadian Provincial League in the early 1950s - one year attaining a batting average of .308.

DETROIT -- Steve Karsay, 22, the Oakland Athletics' standout rookie pitcher, will undergo arthroscopic elbow surgery today in Los Angeles.California Angels orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum examined Karsay yesterday and told him he will be out at least four to six weeks, probably more like eight weeks..` Karsay is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA.

FREDERICK -- It was hard to surpass the performance of Carroll County's Trey Schackelford yesterday at the Babe Ruth state tournament for 16-to-18-year-olds.But not impossible.Schackelford's efforts on the mound were impressive, but so were those of Prince George's North pitcher J. R. Proctor as he one-hit Carroll to knock the team out of the tournament, 2-1, in nine innings at Harry Grove Stadium."We are a tough team," said Schackelford, who finished the regular season 5-0. "We didn't give up, but we were a little flat with the bats."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Orioles right-hander Ben McDonald will take the mound at Oakland Coliseum tonight in search of his sixth win and armed with American League Pitcher of the Month honors for April.McDonald (5-0, 2.65 ERA) will try to become the first Orioles pitcher to open a season with six victories in six starts. He and Mike Mussina (5-1, 2.89) became the first tandem in Orioles history and the first major-league teammates since 1974 to win ++ five games each in April.Orioles closer Lee Smith (0-0, 0.00, 12 saves)

From the moment an opposing hitter steps into the batter's box, Western pitcher Tracy Gruzs is thinking.It may appear that Gruzs barely notices as the batter instinctively assumes her hitting stance and takes a few warm-up swings.But Gruzs is paying attention to every detail as she processes the information in front of her."I watch how the hitter stands," said Gruzs, a senior. "I watch their warm-up swing. I find out their weakness and then I throw the ball where they can't hit it. The difference between being a pitcher and just throwing the ball is learning a batter's weakness and attacking it."

SAN DIEGO -- You knew the game was over when the pitcher had to bat in the top of the first, which was a beautiful sight.Not beautiful because it meant the American League was going to win the All-Star Game for the fifth straight year. That wasn't so important, was it?Beautiful because no one could remember the last time an All-Star batter resembled a 65-year-old just learning to swing a tennis racket.It was not quite Dan Quayle at the spelling bee, but what do you want from a sport in which the commissioner is moping around saying, "I don't know, things just look so bleak."