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06/12/2008 10:29 PM ET
Warthogs' Ely angles way through Rocks
Righty's focus on arm positioning earns him seven one-hit frames
By Larry Fleisher / Special to MLB.com
John Ely retired the final 19 batters he faced, striking out five of the last nine.  (Joy R. Absalon/MLB.com)

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For John Ely, a successful start depends on his arm angle. In his second professional season, it has become the difference between winning and losing.

Ely found the right angle Thursday night as he struck out eight and allowed one hit over seven innings en route to the Winston-Salem Warthogs' three-hit, 1-0 shutout of the host Wilmington Blue Rocks.

"Early in the game my arm was a little late," Ely said. "I just tried to keep it in the zone and keep them off-balance."

Ely (3-6) allowed a two-out infield single to Kurt Mertins in the first inning and nothing else in his 13th Carolina League start. As his arm angle improved, so did his performance -- he retired the final 19 hitters he faced and fell one shy of his career high for strikeouts.

He fanned nine May 21 in Frederick, but the Chicago White Sox's third-round pick from 2007 surrendered three runs on four hits in six innings of a 5-0 loss. The defeat dropped him to 1-5 and Ely lost again five days later when he was tagged for five runs on five hits over four innings in a 9-8 defeat to Myrtle Beach.

Since then, he has improved his mechanics and gone back to doing what helped him post a 6-1 record and 56 strikeouts in 56 innings last summer for Great Falls in the Rookie-level Northwest League.

"It's been a couple of starts, maybe where I was missing my arm slot," Ely said. "I just got back to basics and reinforced what I had [done]."

The results were on full display against the Blue Rocks.

"The last four starts have been better," he said. "I've been in a lot more of a groove."

Ely credited pitching coach Brian Drahman for helping him recognize the flaw.

"He definitely noticed [that] maybe I was over-rotating," Ely said. "I got better at controlling what I can do and I started to throw more strikes."

The victory came on a night when Ely had little margin for error. Opponent Edward Cegarra (2-2) turned in his finest outing since being promoted to Wilmington last month.

Cegarra allowed just a fifth-inning homer to Adam Ricks among seven hits over seven innings. Before Ricks homered, Ely's teammates left the bases loaded in the second, hit into an inning-ending double play in the third and stranded a runner at second in the fourth.

With a run on the board courtesy of his batterymate, Ely settled into a groove and he fanned five of the final nine hitters.

"It's a lot easier to pitch with a lead," he said. "It was a little bit of a confidence-booster. It helped a lot. He was calling a great game and we were on the same page the whole time."

Once Ely was lifted, Kanekoa Texeira came on to finish the gem.

The Hawaiian allowed a two-out single to David Wood in the eighth and stranded him on second by fanning Wilver Perez. He gave up a two-out infield single to Chris McConnell in the ninth, but wrapped up his 11th save when Mertins took a breaking ball for a called third strike.

Larry Fleisher is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.