Skip to main content

Lakewood Falls Short, Deciding Game Saturday

LAKEWOOD, NJ- With a chance to clinch a spot in the South Atlantic League finals, the Lakewood BlueClaws couldn't muster the offense it was going to take to get themselves an extra day off before travelling to the host city for the next round's opening game.

Struggling to put the ball in play when it counted against the Rangers affiliate Hickory Crawdads, the BlueClaws stranded 4 runners in scoring position, with the game tied in the 7th and 9th innings. Lakewood fell short again when they came to the plate trailing in the 10th inning and lined themselves out of a chance to tie the game or walk off with a victory.

A lead off walk for Leandro Castro and a double by Jeremy Barnes, that began the 7th inning, were wasted when Hickory reliever Miguel De Los Santos refocused and struck out the next 3 batters. This occurred in the midst of a stretch where 13 of 14 outs made by BlueClaws batters were on strike outs.

In the 9th inning Castro led off again drawing a walk. Barnes bunted him over and Stephen Batts flied out to center, allowing Castro to advance to 3rd base. Brian Gump, batting for Anthony Hewitt, walked and took 2nd base on a fielders choice defensive indifference call. Australia native Alan Schoenberger, with a chance to be the hero, then went down on strikes against reliever Joseph Ortiz.

"We just couldn't make contact when we just needed a simple fly ball or a ground ball. We weren't doing the fundamental things on offense, when there were guys in position to score runs, which is something we've been pretty good at for the most part," Lakewood manager Mark Parent said after the game.

A 10th inning run, that put the Crawdads ahead, nearly wasn't a run at all. With runners on first and third with 1 out, clean up hitter Zach Zaneski hit a slow grounder to short stop that was scooped by Schoenberger, who flipped to second baseman Keoni Ruth to get an out at second. However, Ruth was unable to complete a transfer in order to throw the ball to first base for a double play. As a result, Leury Garcia scored the go ahead run, before McGuire escaped the inning.

Garcia had reached scoring position in the 10th when he laced a base hit to center field, that should have been a single, but Jiwan James fell down while fielding the ball and Garcia was awarded a double when he hustled into second base.

Lakewood starting pitcher Brody Colvin had a strong outing overall, going 5 innings and striking out 5, while allowing just 3 hits and 1 unearned run. His counterpart, 19-year-old lefty Robbie Erlin, put forth an excellent effort as well. Erlin went 5 innings, struck out 8 and allowed just 2 hits and 1 earned run.

Hickory relievers Miguel De Los Santos and Joseph Ortiz combined for 5 shut out innings and 10 more strike outs.

"That team pitched their (butts) off and for the most part we did too," Parent said.

Lakewood attempted to rally in the 10th inning, when Ruth slapped a 1-out double to left center. Lakewood was in an ideal spot, with their top two hitters, Jonathan Singleton and Sebastian Valle, due up. Ortiz pitched carefully to Singleton and walked him. Valle ripped the first pitch he saw to third baseman Matt West who stepped on third to get the force out on Ruth, then fired over to first base to end the game and force action on Saturday.

In the end, Hickory pulled out a 2-1 extra inning victory in front of 7,335 BlueClaws fans. Saturday's game will determine the winner of the best-of-3 series.

Hitting coach Greg Legg expressed both frustration and understanding after Lakewood's offense completed an 18 strike out exhibition. While it was tough for the veteran hitting guru to watch his players struggle, Legg knows that this is the sort of baseball people should expect in the South Atlantic League. "This is a strike out league," Legg said. "How many times did they strike out? 12 tonight, and last game they struck out 16 times. That's why these two teams are in the playoffs, 'cause they've got good pitching."

Both teams got on the board in the opening frame and the game stayed locked into overtime. Hickory left fielder Travis Addair walked to start the game and advanced on a wild pitch before he moved to third on a sacrifice. Crawdads right fielder Jared Prince plated the run by grounding out to first base. Lakewood clapped back in the bottom of the 1st when Castro drove home Ruth with an RBI ground out of his own.

Greenville, a Boston affiliate, swept Savannah in 2 games in the Southern Division series, so the BlueClaws' or Crawdads' destination is decided for the best-of-5 championship series, after a winner is determined on Saturday. Right-hander Jonathan Pettibone (8-6, 3.49 ERA) will take the mound for Lakewood against righty hurler Jake Brigham (5-5, 3.51 ERA) at 7:05pm.


Notes....
Prior to the game, the BlueClaws announced that they were extending their player development contract with the Phillies through the 2012 season. Lakewood pitching coach Steve Schrenk will spend the off-season as a manager in the Australian Baseball League. Righty prospect Jarred Cosart, who has been sidelined since late June with an elbow injury, is with the BlueClaws after spending 2 months rehabbing in Florida. Cosart, who is still on the disabled list, says his elbow is 100% and he has begun facing hitters.

________________________________________________

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Prospect Nation 2012: #1 RHP Trevor May

With a massively impressive campaign in 2011 for the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, right-handed starting pitcher Trevor May locked down his spot as Philadelphia's top prospect and is on the fast track toward the big leagues. He is the reigning Paul Owens Award winner, given to the top pitcher and player in the Phillies' developmental system each year. In 27 starts with the Threshers in 2011, May posted a 10-8 record with a 3.63 ERA, while striking out a Florida State League leading 208 batters in 151 1/3 innings. He also held opposing hitters to a .221 average. The Phillies' 4th round draft pick from 2008, May earned the win in the 50th annual Florida State League All-Star Game at Bright House Field last year. He also was twice named FSL Pitcher of the Week and earned Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors for June. After signing with Philadelphia, May helped lead the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies to a championship in 2008. In 5 regular

World Series Preview: Phillies vs. Astros

The Fall Classic is set to get underway on Friday with the Phillies opening on the road to take on the Astros in a best-of-seven series. This year marks 75 years since the first time a World Series was televised and this year each game will be broadcast on the FOX television network.  ESPN will have the radio broadcast and that feed can be streamed by using this link . Game 1 Friday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Houston.  RHP Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA).  In 16 road starts during the regular season this year, Nola notched a 5-9 record with a 3.00 ERA.  Nola has struck out 18 and walked three in 17 1/3 innings pitched this postseason.  Earlier this month, Nola tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Houston.  In 15 home starts during the regular season, Verlander sported a 10-1 record with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP.  Verlander has a 5.68 ERA and has not recorded a win in seven career World Series starts.  Verlander has 11 starts allowing one run or fewer in

PhoulBallz Interview: RHP Ben Brown talks TJ recovery, O'Hoppe, cancelled season

Image- MiLB.com Out of action since last May when it was determined he required Tommy John surgery, righty pitching prospect Ben Brown is using the downtime of the pandemic hiatus to continue his physical recovery.  A 33rd round draft selection of the Phillies back in 2017, Brown made his professional debut that same year, posting a 2.57 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 10 appearances in the rookie level Gulf Coast League.  The following season, Brown began to make a name for himself in the GCL, striking out 16 batters in one July appearance.  He would post a 3.12 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 10 games (eight starts) before earning a promotion and finishing the season with a pair of outings with Class A short-season Williamsport. Brown, a Long Island, NY native, opened last year with Class A Lakewood.  In four appearances with the BlueClaws, he struck out 20, walked four and allowed no runs in 13 2/3 innings and looked well on his way to making an impact on betting odds and available promo codes