MADISON – It can be said Walbert Ureña saved his best for last.
In his final start of the season Saturday, the Rocket City hurler carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and allowed just one hit over 8 innings to lead the Trash Pandas to a 2-1 victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts.
For his efforts, Ureña was named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week.
Making his league-leading and franchise-record 27th start, Ureña closed his season with his 11th quality start, tying for the Southern League lead.
The 21-year-old right-hander set a career high with 8 innings, striking out eight without a walk. He didn’t surrender a hit until Ethan O’Donnell’s leadoff double in the eighth. Of his 24 recorded outs, 23 came via strikeout or groundout.
Over his final five starts of 2025, Ureña went 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA, striking out 31 while issuing 11 walks in 32.1 innings.
He finished the season among the Southern League leaders in multiple categories:
- Starts – T-1st (27)
- Quality Starts – T-1st (11)
- Innings Pitched – 1st (135.1)
- Opponent Batting Average – 10th (.231)
- Strikeouts – 9th (115)
Ureña becomes the third Trash Panda this season to earn a weekly league honor, joining infielders Denzer Guzmán and Sam Brown, and the first pitcher to do so in 2025. He’s the first Rocket City pitcher to win since George Klassen, exactly one year ago on Sept. 15, 2024.
This also marks the third Pitcher of the Week award of Ureña’s career, following California League honors with Single-A Inland Empire (Aug. 27, 2023) and the ACL Angels (July 3, 2022).
The Trash Pandas finished the season at 45-92, a .328 winning percentage — the lowest in modern Southern League history. Chattanooga, after finishing 45-90 (.333) in 2024, rebounded to 73-61 and earned a playoff berth this season.
