Outwit, Outlast.....
...Outplay, Survivor Hickory
A lot has happened on the current homestand, but with my having 3 promotions to tend to over the weekend, and two days full of tarp pulls, there's not been much time for blogging. But, even with the short turn around for an 11 am start after the 14 innings on Monday, I thought there was a good bit that Crawdads/ Rangers fans would want to know.
First of all, Joseph Wieland was as advertised. I want to be 19 years old and have his curve ball. Other than Boscan's starts and Brigham's first start, Wieland had the most impressive individual start I've seen this season. This kid can pitch. He mixed speeds well, he moved the ball around, good spot fastball, and flat had Delmarva look silly on that curve ball. Wow.
Wieland allowed only one hit in the first 4 innings, but had to work around defensive miscues in the 1st and 4th inning, and a grazed jersey hit batter in the 2nd inning.
In the 5th inning, Wieland struck out the first two batters on, what else, curve balls. The next batter, Luis Berrando, hit a sinking liner that LF Eric Fry initially caught, but the ball came loose during a slide to get to the ball. Xavier Avery (4-for-7) hit a ground ball single into right that Clark Murphy may have misjudged where his second baseman was-- he took 2 steps toward the ball, then retreated to first-- and Erik Morrison not able to get to the ball. The bases became loaded when Wieland struck out LJ Hoes on a nasty curve ball in the dirt, but a wild pitch allowed the inning to continue. Wieland made a rare mistake on a fastball over the plate to Ron Welty as he singled in both runners for a 2-0 lead for the Shorebirds.
Shorebirds pitcher Ryan O'Shea did his best Greg Maddux impression for six innings as he perplexed the Crawdads with a well placed fastball and an effective change up, as Hickory had only three base runners through the first 5 innings. O'Shea, with only 7 walks in 31.2 innings entering the game, was around the plate all night and the Hickory offense went up swinging early in the count.
Hickory finally had their first hard hit ball in the sixth on a liner to center by Jake Kaase, which set the stage for a line drive homer by Morrison to break up the no-no and shut out.
Hickory worked around another error in the 7th inning but finally the defensive miscues caught up to them in the 8th to give Delmarva a 3-1 lead.
A little inocuous play in the Crawdads 8th turned out to be a big break: With one out, David Paisano was hit on the wrist by a pitch. Unable to continue in the game, Paisano gave way to Jared Bolden at first base. Before the first pitch, Delmarva pitcher Eddie Gamboa caught Bolden napping at first for an easy pickoff. However, time had apparently been called by the home plate umpire negating the pick off. Jake Kaase then hit a ground ball to the mound for a double play; except, Bolden's hard slide into the shortstop covering was enough to enable Kaase to reach first.
At this point, Delmarva pitcher Eddie Gamboa had a decision to make: throw Morrison a fast ball, which Morrison has crushed for a week now, including the 6th inning homer, or a breaking ball, while risking Kaase stealing on the pitch. First pitch, fast ball inside for a ball. The next two pitches, with several throws to first mixed in, Gamboa got Morrison to chase breaking balls in the dirt to go 1-2. The next pitch, with Kaase going, was a hanging change the screamed "Hit me!", and Morrison did for a tripled down the line in left, scoring Kaase for a 3-2 deficit.
The Shorebirds failed to put the Crawdads away when opportunity presented itself throughout the night: 14 runners stranded, plus a key insurance run in the 9th was caught in a rundown off second base on a bouncer to the mound.
In the 9th, after Mike Hollander hit a line shot to the mound that was snared by pitcher Joe Esposito, Eric Fry hit a solo shot with 2 out in the inning to prolong the game. A very poor pitch as the Shorebirds catcher set up inside on a 3-1 pitch, but Esposito left it over the plate.
After Hickory spent 3 futile innings against Brent Aller, he of the 2.16 WHIP entering the game, Aller finally came back to reality by walking the first two hitters to open the 14th inning. Zach Zaneski placed a perfect 2-strike bunt down the line at third to load the bases. After Clark Murphy struck out in a 13-pitch at bat, Bolden eventually worked a walk for the win.
Yoon-Hee Nam pretty much had his way with the Shorebirds lineup as he used a very effective change up to toy with Delmarva's offense. From day one, Nam has been Hickory's most effective reliever out of the pen, and he continued that tonight.
So, one day after a poor outing to close out the Lake County series, Hickory gets a big boost to climb above Delmarva in the standings.
So, what happens on Tuesday? Which team will show up: the one inspired by the previous night's play, or the one that goes through the motions and got manhandled on Sunday 9-2?
Mark P.
PS: My role with the Crawdads will be changing a good bit, which will take me out of the press box much more than previous. I hope I will be able to blog some, but most nights, I will not be in a position to see every pitch as I was before now.
A lot has happened on the current homestand, but with my having 3 promotions to tend to over the weekend, and two days full of tarp pulls, there's not been much time for blogging. But, even with the short turn around for an 11 am start after the 14 innings on Monday, I thought there was a good bit that Crawdads/ Rangers fans would want to know.
First of all, Joseph Wieland was as advertised. I want to be 19 years old and have his curve ball. Other than Boscan's starts and Brigham's first start, Wieland had the most impressive individual start I've seen this season. This kid can pitch. He mixed speeds well, he moved the ball around, good spot fastball, and flat had Delmarva look silly on that curve ball. Wow.
Wieland allowed only one hit in the first 4 innings, but had to work around defensive miscues in the 1st and 4th inning, and a grazed jersey hit batter in the 2nd inning.
In the 5th inning, Wieland struck out the first two batters on, what else, curve balls. The next batter, Luis Berrando, hit a sinking liner that LF Eric Fry initially caught, but the ball came loose during a slide to get to the ball. Xavier Avery (4-for-7) hit a ground ball single into right that Clark Murphy may have misjudged where his second baseman was-- he took 2 steps toward the ball, then retreated to first-- and Erik Morrison not able to get to the ball. The bases became loaded when Wieland struck out LJ Hoes on a nasty curve ball in the dirt, but a wild pitch allowed the inning to continue. Wieland made a rare mistake on a fastball over the plate to Ron Welty as he singled in both runners for a 2-0 lead for the Shorebirds.
Shorebirds pitcher Ryan O'Shea did his best Greg Maddux impression for six innings as he perplexed the Crawdads with a well placed fastball and an effective change up, as Hickory had only three base runners through the first 5 innings. O'Shea, with only 7 walks in 31.2 innings entering the game, was around the plate all night and the Hickory offense went up swinging early in the count.
Hickory finally had their first hard hit ball in the sixth on a liner to center by Jake Kaase, which set the stage for a line drive homer by Morrison to break up the no-no and shut out.
Hickory worked around another error in the 7th inning but finally the defensive miscues caught up to them in the 8th to give Delmarva a 3-1 lead.
A little inocuous play in the Crawdads 8th turned out to be a big break: With one out, David Paisano was hit on the wrist by a pitch. Unable to continue in the game, Paisano gave way to Jared Bolden at first base. Before the first pitch, Delmarva pitcher Eddie Gamboa caught Bolden napping at first for an easy pickoff. However, time had apparently been called by the home plate umpire negating the pick off. Jake Kaase then hit a ground ball to the mound for a double play; except, Bolden's hard slide into the shortstop covering was enough to enable Kaase to reach first.
At this point, Delmarva pitcher Eddie Gamboa had a decision to make: throw Morrison a fast ball, which Morrison has crushed for a week now, including the 6th inning homer, or a breaking ball, while risking Kaase stealing on the pitch. First pitch, fast ball inside for a ball. The next two pitches, with several throws to first mixed in, Gamboa got Morrison to chase breaking balls in the dirt to go 1-2. The next pitch, with Kaase going, was a hanging change the screamed "Hit me!", and Morrison did for a tripled down the line in left, scoring Kaase for a 3-2 deficit.
The Shorebirds failed to put the Crawdads away when opportunity presented itself throughout the night: 14 runners stranded, plus a key insurance run in the 9th was caught in a rundown off second base on a bouncer to the mound.
In the 9th, after Mike Hollander hit a line shot to the mound that was snared by pitcher Joe Esposito, Eric Fry hit a solo shot with 2 out in the inning to prolong the game. A very poor pitch as the Shorebirds catcher set up inside on a 3-1 pitch, but Esposito left it over the plate.
After Hickory spent 3 futile innings against Brent Aller, he of the 2.16 WHIP entering the game, Aller finally came back to reality by walking the first two hitters to open the 14th inning. Zach Zaneski placed a perfect 2-strike bunt down the line at third to load the bases. After Clark Murphy struck out in a 13-pitch at bat, Bolden eventually worked a walk for the win.
Yoon-Hee Nam pretty much had his way with the Shorebirds lineup as he used a very effective change up to toy with Delmarva's offense. From day one, Nam has been Hickory's most effective reliever out of the pen, and he continued that tonight.
So, one day after a poor outing to close out the Lake County series, Hickory gets a big boost to climb above Delmarva in the standings.
So, what happens on Tuesday? Which team will show up: the one inspired by the previous night's play, or the one that goes through the motions and got manhandled on Sunday 9-2?
Mark P.
PS: My role with the Crawdads will be changing a good bit, which will take me out of the press box much more than previous. I hope I will be able to blog some, but most nights, I will not be in a position to see every pitch as I was before now.
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