Aiming for four innings, Gig Harbor grad Adams instead finished with a no-hitter for Northwest Nazarene
Gig Harbor High School grad Jordan Adams, like many athletes, is a bit superstitious. So when the Northwest Nazarene University sophomore pitcher had a no-hitter going through five innings against Colorado State Pueblo on Feb. 7, she tried to push it out of her mind.
“I’m afraid I’m going to jinx it,” Adams said. “So I just try to keep it out of my mind. In the back of my mind, I kind of knew. But I tried to just focus on hitting my spots and spinning the ball.”
Adams completed the no-hitter in the 9-0 win, striking out seven and walking one over seven innings. It was the second no-hitter in the softball program’s history. The Nampa, Idaho school competes in Division II in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).
The no-hitter was just the 24th in GNAC history and only the fifth by one pitcher throwing a complete game.
In nearly every no-hitter, there’s almost always at least one exceptional defensive play during the course of the game that a pitcher points to as the saving play. For Adams, that came in the sixth inning, when second baseman Shelbie Martinez made a tough play on a ball that looked ready to get out of the infield, between first and second base.
“She saved my no-hitter,” Adams said. “I just held my breath on that play.
“It was just a team experience. It came from everybody on the team to accomplish something like that. There were a few times when my infielders really bailed me out. It’s not just about me throwing it.”
Adams, who is recovering from a back injury, was only supposed to pitch about four innings in that game. But the way she was throwing, she wasn’t going to come out.
“Just struggling with that injury, I haven’t been throwing as hard as I usually do,” Adams said. “So it was just a good time to slow down and spin the ball. I felt like almost all my pitches were working that game. My curveball and rise ball really helped me through that game.”
Adams has had plenty of success early in her college career. She was named the GNAC freshman pitcher of the year last season, posting a 19-7 record along with a 1.99 earned run average.
“It’s been awesome,” she said. “Just being here, having the teammates and coaches that I do makes it worth it. It’s made the whole experience awesome. Going into college, it’s intimidating. Having awesome teammates and coaches by your side really makes you want to work hard for them. Having that success was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced.”
Adams said the biggest adjustment to college was locating her pitches more effectively and having movement on her pitches.
“I kind of got smacked in the face when I first started throwing in college,” she said. “As a freshman, I just wanted to throw the ball hard. You can’t just throw for speed. ...
“The GNAC is filled with good hitters. I adjusted quickly and my catchers really helped me and told me to slow down, spin the ball and I’ll be fine.”
Northwest Nazarene is 5-5 so far this season.
“We’re looking good so far,” Adams said. “We’re a little on the beat up side right now, we have some hurt bodies. We just have to work through it. … The biggest thing is just playing loose and playing together. Last year, we had it all together. We were all a family. We treated each other like family and played together like family. We’re getting back on track with that. As soon as we start clicking, we’ll take over and dominate.”
