[Eugene Church]

The Islandian Times

Thursday, April 4, 2002

Ruthlandian Union

Sundowners Clip Claxton 6-3, Bristow Wins
The Wynnamac Sundowners evened their record to 2-2 with a 6-3 victory over Claxton at Granger Field. Liam Bristow, a little 32-year-old southpaw held the Diamonds in check on eight hits. Bristow finished up with four strikeouts and walked only one. Catcher Mick Quacken supplied the big blow of the game. He rapped a grand slam homer in the fourth inning to give Bristow all the runs he needed. It was Quacken's first hit this season. He is now 1 for 16 and hitting only .063 thus far this year. Claxton first baseman Marty McCluskey hit two solo roundtrippers and had three hits to pace his team. 19-year-old rookie Ernie Garland was the loser. He was KO'd in the five-run fourth after giving up four hits, walking three and striking out six. It was the Diamonds (3-1) first defeat this season.

Kilkenny Wins 4th Straight on Flanagan's Single
The Kilkenny Cats are on a tear. They have now won four straight games and are unbeaten so far... The Cats edged Sugar Valley 4-3 in a 12-inning contest... sending the Rattlers to their fourth defeat in a row... Center fielder Kirk Pitzer led off the twelfth with a triple, then scored the winning run on second baseman Ricky Flanagan's base hit... Skipper Kieran McKenna got some standout work from his closer Dean Brennan, who stopped Sugar Valley cold with three perfect innings... Brennan struck out five of the nine Rattlers he faced and notched the victory... Reliever Mike Wright was the loser, giving up one run and three hits in three innings... Pitzer paced the Cats with 3-5 and scored twice... Right fielder Tee Boy Joubert cracked his third homer this season and Flanagan drove in a pair of runs... Rattler third baseman Jorge Vargas and right fielder Tommy Sonnier both got their first homers of the year. Kilkenny had a huge advantage in hits, topping Sugar Valley 14 to 6.

Norris Homers, Elnora Slips Past LaGrange
Good relief pitching and shortstop Joe Norris' home run helped Elnora slip past LaGrange 5-4 today at Sports Stadium... Relievers Harry Dye and Taylor Gibbs held the Sports scoreless over the last four and two-thirds innings to set the stage for Norris to hit a game-winning bomb in the top of the eighth... Dye got credit for the win, while Gibbs picked up the save... The All-Stars were led by third baseman Ricky Franklin, who had two hits and two RBIs and got his first homer of the year... Elnora rookie first baseman Ricky Page had 3-5 and batted in two runs... LaGrange had 11 hits to 9 for Elnora... Right fielder Phil Lacroix pace the Sports with three RBIs and three hits, including two doubles... Loser Jack Ratelle was ripped for five runs in eight innings, but did have nine strikeouts... Both clubs are now 2-2 on the year.

Four In a Row for Sunbirds, Garrett Tosses Win
At Bayside Park in Belair Beach, the Sunbirds continued to get outstanding pitching and captured their fourth victory in a row... Marty Pedroza's crew has only given up three runs in four games to date... This time it was Dirk Garrett on the hill with a 3-1 win over the Middlefield Roosters... The lefty pitched into the ninth, allowed only one run on seven hits with seven Ks and two bases on balls... Closer Lou Zanelli did his job by getting the last two outs of the game and getting the save... At the plate center fielder Bobby Joe Morris slapped out three hits and scored twice, first baseman Phil Gravelli had two runs batted in and left fielder Nicky Swift drove in one run... The Sunbirds tagged Don Shaw with the defeat... They scored three runs off him in five innings... Middlefield now stands at 2-2.

St. John Squeezes Out Win Over Taranto 3-2
St. John manager Dickie Billings racked up his third win in four tries this season by squeezing by the Taranto Tars 3-2 at Cathedral Stadium... Adam Chiarra, Claudell Beachum and Richie Renaudin led the way... Chiarra was the winning pitcher, hurling eight and one-third innings, allowing two runs, just one earned,.. Chiarra got into trouble in the ninth when first baseman Georgie Hearn ripped him for a two-run homer, but Beachum strolled in from the bullpen and put out the fire... Beachum sat down the only two batters he faced for his first save this season... Crusader first sacker Renaudin delivered a two-run triple in the seventh for the eventual game-winning runs... A skinny righthander Vittorio Ferrari pitched well, surrendering just three runs and eight hits in going the distance in defeat... Taranto is starting off the season slowly and is 1-3 so far.

Bobcats Scratch Out Win Over Volusia 6-5
Manager Bret George of Beechwood has a fiery club... The Bobcats fought and scratched their way to a 6-5 triumph over the Volusia Vigilantes at the Jailhouse... Beechwood third baseman Gawain Harris and Volusia closer Ricky Moreno went at it with fisticuffs after Harris was hit by Moreno... It was right after left fielder L. J. Aldridge went deep on Moreno to make the score 6-4 in favor of the Bobcats... Both Harris and Moreno were ejected... The Vigilantes mounted a rally in the ninth and cut the margin to one run, but Frankie Lacaze came in from the bullpen and induced a double play ball to end the game with the tying run on first base... Larry Eaton registered the win as he labored into the ninth, permitting five runs and seven hits, while fanning seven and walking four... V's starter Kit Kivett got the loss... He was rapped hard for five runs in four innings... Second baseman Augie Ippolito continued to sparkle with the bat... He crashed his 4th homer this year, good for two runs... Center fielder Lonnie Snider contributed 2-4, scored twice and batted in a run with a triple... Volusia second baseman Francisco Abreu and shortstop Scooter Perez led their team with two hits and an RBI each... Beechwood is now 3-1 on the year, while last year's IPA champs are only 1-3.

Grand City Wipes Out Waleska 9-2
Waleska's owner, Jock Ewing, who lost out in the expansion fight to Gates Billingham, owner of the Grand City Cybercats, was quoted as saying, "We'll just have to kick some butts on the ball field."... That's exactly what has happened in the showdown between the two ball clubs - but its the Cybercats that have been doing all the butt kicking... For the second day in a row Billingham's club has whipped Ewing's team... This time they wiped them out 9-2, battering them for 12 hits... Grand City right fielder Johnny Keitel got his second roundtripper this year and center fielder Tyree Tucker hit his first... Second baseman Jim Farkas went 3-for-5, scored three times and drove in two runs... Tucker also had three hits, including two doubles, batted in three runs and scored twice... Waleska was held to two runs and seven hits by Kerry Loomis, who went the distance for the victory... Jack Wagner started and lost it for Waleska... He gave up four runs in five-plus innings... To make matters even worse, the Cybercats are unbeaten in four games, while Ewing's Westerners are winless in four games.

Ranford Cut Down the Lumberjacks 9-5
Ranford on the road in Forest City thumped the Lumberjacks 9-5 at Riverside Stadium... The Bulls unleased a 15-hit attack and were led by third baseman Robin O'Donoghue with three RBIs and first baseman Jordy John with 3-for-5 and a pair of runs batted in... John poled his first homer of the season... Jackie Hunter got credit for the victory... He allowed three runs - just one earned - in six innings... Hunter fanned six and walked just one... Vic Tselikas got the save, though he was roughed up for two runs in three innings... Forest City was led by center fielder Ryan Morse and third baseman Pops Keller with three hits apiece... Morse had a triple, homered and drove in two runs... Vince Edelman lost the game as he was tagged for four runs in two-plus innings... Ranford and Forest City are both 2-2 on the season.

Cold Creek Hot, Bomb Blackhawks 9-4
Cold Creek had a hot hand with the bats and they bombed Valka at Cybertel Park with four homers en route to a 9-4 thumping... Center fielder Trip Holmes hammered two of them with left fielder Karl Yashin and third baseman Harry Coogan getting the other two... Both Holmes and Yashin have three homers... The Catamounts cashed in bigtime with 15 hits... Coogan and second baseman Jeremy Moyer collected three apiece... The winning pitcher was Carl Herman... He went the distance and kept the Blackhawks in check most of the game, allowing four runs on nine hits with three walks and six Ks... Losing pitcher Ulo Illka suffered the defeat as he was bombarded for eight hits and five runs in five-plus frames... The triumph gave Cold Creek a 2-2 mark... Valka fell to 1-3.

Sligo Derails Crystal Lake 6-3
Sligo got its first IPA victory today at Lakefront Park in Crystal Lake behind the seven-hit pitching of Art Bukowski... The Rovers derailed the Crushers 6-3 with a 10-hit attack, led by left fielder Danny O'Shea, who slugged a three-run homer to highlight a five-run fifth inning... Left fielder Waylon Moses also pitched in with two hits, two RBIs and scored twice... Bukowski had seven strikeouts and three walks in complete-game effort... Left fielder Ben Butler collected his third roundtripper this season for Crystal Lake... The Crushers starter Bill Ehrhardt was ineffective... The Rovers ravaged him for eight hits and six runs in four-plus innings... Both Sligo and Crystal Lake are 1-3.

Bagby Fans 10, Stumps Defenders on 3-Hits
Marston righthander Kenny Bagby twirled a brilliant game, stumping the Fort Benton Defenders on three hits in a 6-1 decision... Bagby fanned 10 Defenders and walked three... The Nine wrapped up the game with four runs in the fifth frame... Second baseman Ken Green led the way with three hits, including a home run... Green drove in a pair of scores... Shortstop Leon Flynn did the only damage to Bagby with a solo home run... Marston rang up 13 hits... The loss went to Jimmy Stone, who was shellacked for six runs in five-plus innings... The Marston Nine ran their season record to 3-1, while Fort Benton dipped to 1-3.

Far Mountain Trims Belle Plaine 6-5
A two-run rally in the seventh inning gave Far Mountain a 6-5 comeback win over Belle Plaine at Musketeer Field... Right fielder Sid Cameron doubled in the tying run, was singled to third by catcher Dave Davis, then scored the winning run on a passed ball by catcher Pete Fourrier... Right fielder Karl Dietz had a two-run roundtripper for the victors... Dave Johnston notched the win, working seven innings and allowing five runs... Closer Mike McCabe retired six batters in succession for his first save of the season... Losing pitcher Zach Brunet was pelted for six runs in his seven innings, but three of them were not earned... Belle Plaine committed four errors in the game... Brunet had nine strikeouts... The Redhawks are even for the year with a 2-2 mark... The Musketeers are 1-3.

Ancona Topples Stoner Stars 8-5
At home at Jay Loman Park, the Ancona Red Elephants ran up an 8-0 lead at the end of seven innings, then held off a rally by the Stoner Stars... Ancona toppled them 8-5 with the victory going to righthander Marty Sellick... Sellick allowed only two earned runs, while giving up nine hits in eight and two-thirds innings... He tired badly in the late innings and needed help from closer Shannon Estes, who got the final out of the game... Both clubs notched nine hits with catcher Dale Kerr sparking the winners with three RBIs and three runs scored... Center fielder Dion Kopsas went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple... The Red Elephants have won three consecutive games and are 3-1 this season, while Stoner has dropped the last three and have fallen to 1-3.

Vipers Sneak By Glasco A's 5-4
Visiting Valmara sneaked by Glasco at Athletics Field 5-4... The Vipers won it in the ninth when left fielder Val Krol singled with two away, stole second and then rode home on Ricky O'Reilly's base hit... Reliever Gerry Wojcik got his second win this season, while the save went to Danny Blauser, who closed it out and picked his first save on the year... Center fielder Jan Szymanski went deep for the first time this year, drove in three runs and scored twice... Closer Ray Cook, who came on in the ninth was the loser... Both Valmara and Glasco are now 2-2.

Eastshore Cops 4th In a Row, Tucker WP
Manager Killer Brewster of the Eastshore Elegants was pleased with his pitcher Rickey Tucker, who went the distance in the 4-2 decision over Rocky Rapids at Snapper Stadium... Tucker fanned nine and held the Snappers to just four hits for the club's fourth straight victory... They have yet to lose a game this season... Center fielder Carl Hendriksen was the Elegants top bat with 3-4, including two doubles... Third baseman Bobby Sutton drove across the winning run with a single in the seventh inning to put Eastshore up 3-2... Reliever Norrie Wickham was the loser... Snapper third sacker Phil Cates had the only home run in the game, his second this season... Rocky Rapids fell to a 2-2 record for the year.

San Dimas Wins First Game, Edges Colfax 4-3
San Dimas made the home crowd happy at Ranchero Stadium with a tight 4-3 triumph over the Colfax Blasters... San Dimas took an early 4-1 lead after three innings and then held Colfax off the rest of the game... It was the Rancheros first-ever IPA victory... Winning pitcher Wayne Mallard stopped Colfax on five hits, while striking out 11... Cliff Pope clinched the verdict with a runless ninth in relief... two of the outs came on Ks... Pacing San Dimas at bat were right fielder Dale Roberson and third baseman Grover Crenshaw... They both scored a run and had three hits... Center fielder Pat Lott led the Blasters with 2-3 and a home run, number two for him this year... Colfax starter Jasper LaForge pitched the entire game in defeat, allowing nine hits and four runs with three strikeouts... The Blasters have a 2-2 mark this season, while San Dimas is now at 1-3.