Former Purdue North Central pitching standout Shane Prance (Portage, IN) has now made six appearances for the Schaumburg Boomers of the independent Frontier League. Prance, the fifth Panther baseball player to sign a professional contract in the past six years, has made three starts and had three relief appearances. The Boomers are currently in first place in the West Division as they enter the All-Star break at 29-19.
The slender right-hander is currently 1-0 with a 4.57 ERA. In 21.2 innings pitched he has allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 26 hits, 10 walks while striking out 12. Prance's last outing was strong as he didn't allow a baserunner over two innings while striking out two.
Prance seems to have settled into pro ball and is showing the control he flashed at PNC. As a senior this past spring, Prance finished 7-5 with a 2.88 ERA in 84 innings of work. He appeared in 14 games overall and started 10 while completing eight. The right-hander struck out 95 batters while walking just 20 while earning 2nd Team All-conference honors.
The seven wins tied the mark for most wins in a season at PNC while his 84 innings, eight complete games and 95 strikeouts all set single season school records.
In his professional debut in mid-June Prance was stellar, holding the Rockford RiverHawks, the Frontier League's top offensive squad, to just one earned run and three hits over his 6.2 innings. At one point, Prance retired nine straight batters and after he allowed a hit with one out in the second inning, the 6'3" right-hander did not allow a hit over his final 5.1 innings before giving way to the ‘pen.
