Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Starting pitcher Jon Moore and the Tradewater Pirates’ offense took full advantage of an opportunity to play host to the last-place Farmington Firebirds and remain atop the K.I.T. League, but the win did not come without a late-inning scare.
Moore pitched six-plus innings, allowing four runs on four hits and striking out six batters, but all four runs came in the seventh inning before the Pirates escaped for an 8-4 win Monday night.
“Jon’s always going to give us a good performance any time he goes out there,” Tradewater coach Kurt Elbin said. “He always keeps us in the game.”
Tradewater posted an 8-0 shutout until the seventh inning before running into trouble as Farmington’s first four batters reached base. The Firebirds erased Moore’s shutout with a two-run double and chased him from the mound one batter later.
Pitcher Tanner Hall inherited Moore’s base runners but surrendered two more runs before escaping the jam. With the bases loaded, a very close 6-4-3 double play proved to be the difference for Tradewater, recording its first outs of the inning. Farmington manager C.J. Belt came out to argue the call, but to no avail and was ejected from the game after a heated exchange with the field umpire.
“That was huge,” Elbin said. “The double play is a pitcher’s friend and that really helped us get out of the inning.”
Farmington threatened again in the eighth inning when Hall walked two of the first three Firebirds. Reliever Kevin Belk entered to quell the rally. Belk recorded the first batter he faced but loaded the bases with a walk before bearing down for a strikeout to end the inning.
The Pirates sent Belk out to the mound in the ninth inning. Belk settled down and faced just four batters before securing the Pirate victory.
With six more games this week and in the middle of an eight-game homestand, Tradewater was fortunate to get good outings from its pitchers on Monday, Elbin said.
Early on, Tradewater wasted no time getting its offense on track, scoring in each of the first three frames. During the second inning the Pirates wrapped out three extra-base hits, including back-to-back RBI doubles off the bats of Mike Finigan and Sean Mahley to jump ahead 3-0.
The Pirates’ timely hits continued in the third inning when Tradewater took command of the game. Catcher Kevin Schlegel started the third with a single up the middle. Schlegel’s teammates followed with three more consecutive hits. The blast of the inning came when Richard Atwood plated two runs on a sharply hit triple to left field. Tradewater batted around during the rally, and Mahley finished the outburst with a RBI single, his third hit in three innings. The Pirates led 7-0 after three innings.
On the mound, Moore cruised until the fifth inning. Right fielder Kurt Driemeyer began the inning with a line drive triple to right field past the glove of Tanner Hall. Farmington’s next batter, Juan Favela, grounded a ball right back to Moore, who collected the shot and looked to Driemeyer caught hanging from third base. Moore quickly ran at Driemeyer and after a few throws between third base and home plate the runner was tagged out in a run down. Favela, however, advanced all the way to second base during the pickle.
Later in the fifth, Moore found himself in another jam when he loaded the bases with consecutive two-out walks. With a full-count and all runners moving, Moore escaped the threat when he struck out Dallas Williams to end the inning.
In the seventh inning Tradewater tacked on another run when Mahley smacked another RBI single to lead 8-0. Mahley finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs.
Elbin smiled after the game when asked about Mahley’s solid performance.
“He actually struggled at the plate yesterday, so it’s good to see him come out of that,” he said.
On Sunday, third baseman Logan Bawcom launched two home runs and amassed six RBIs in an offensive onslaught as Tradewater defeated the Owensboro Oilers 15-7.
Bawcom hit home runs in the first and ninth innings, and added a RBI single in between homers to pace the team at the plate.
Tradewater scored in each of its first three at-bats to take a commanding 9-2 lead.
Starting pitching Don Pugliese took advantage of the bountiful run support to earn the win. Pugliese pitching five innings and allowed two runs while striking out 10 Oiler batters.
Jonathan Bell and Belk did not fair as well in relief. The pitchers combined to throw two innings, but surrendered four walks and five runs to allow Owensboro within three.
Pitchers Brandon Williamson and Eric Faint finished out the game to preserve the win, while the Pirate offense exploded in the ninth inning for five more runs, led by Bawcom’s two-run blast.
Atwood, Schlegel and Matt Kulbacki each finished the game with two hits. Jason Cramer and Andy Gerhartz also collected hits to round out the Pirates’ attack.
Tradewater will be back in action 7 p.m. today and look to make it two in a row against Farmington at Riverside Park.
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