West Michigan’s Kibler flirts with perfection

by Cory Butzin

Despite warm temperatures at Dow Diamond, the Loons bats were cold.

And that was due to the left arm of Tigers’ prospect and Michigan State alum Jon Kibler.

Kibler was perfect through six and 1/3 innings as West Michigan was able to hold the Great Lakes Loons scoreless Tuesday and take a 5-0 win.

The former Spartan flirted with perfection, retiring the first 19 batters he faced before Erik Kanaby blooped a single into shallow left field with one out in the bottom of the seventh to ruin the bid.

Josh Lindblom started for the Loons and battled pitch for pitch with Kibler, allowing only one hit with one strikeout leaving the game after four innings.

That’s when the Whitecaps took control of the game.

Garrett White entered the game in the fifth, but now is wishing he hadn’t. The first four batters he faced reached base allowing West Michigan to jump out to a 2-0 lead before Kody Kaiser walked up to the plate and drilled a three-run cannon blast to left field giving the Whitecaps a 5-0 lead.

That was more than enough for Kibler.

The Whitecap southpaw kept a ball from leaving the infield through the first six innings, and lost his bid for a perfect game on Kanaby’s single. Alfredo Silverio doubled to right field in the eight, but the Loons never really threatened as Kibler went the distance striking out nine to improve to 12-4 on the season.

White picked up the loss to fall to 2-2 on the year.

The two teams return to action Wednesday night at Dow Diamond. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Photos by Brent Riley