Tigers Beat the Heat and Reds
6/27/12
On Wednesday night the number one item on everyone's wish list was air-conditioning. The game time temp stood in the mid-90s. After a sloppy first inning from both clubs put a total of four runs on the board, both starters settled in to exchange a number of zeros. The Tigers chipped away to take a 7-2 lead into the ninth. Gibbon kept battling and plated three runs in their last at-bat, but Springfield held on for a 7-5 win.
Alex Frank took the hill for the Tigers and got off to a rough start. An infield pop-up dropped behind the pitcher's mound. Then a pair of Springfield errors gave the Reds a 1-0 lead. Frank dug in and then proceeded to retire the next eleven Gibbon batters. Their next base runner came with two outs in the fourth.
Gibbon countered with Kyle Maurer on the mound. Matt Vogel started Springfield's come back in the bottom of the first with a one-out single. Alex Fink was hit by a pitch and Ryan Sturm drew a walk to load the bases. Christian Loomis drove in the tying run with a ground out. A Gibbon miscue added two more runs to the Tiger tally.
Frank struggled to find the strike zone in the top of the fifth. With just one runner on base from a one-out single, Frank got the second out. Then two hit batters and a walk forced across Gibbon's second run.
Maurer also settled in after a rough start. He retired twelve straight Springfield batters. Springfield got their first base runner since the first in the bottom of the sixth with a lead-off walk to Vogel. Fink reached on an error after Vogel was picked off. Sturm then launched a deep fly to the right field corner for a triple, returning the Springfield lead to two, 4-2.
Jacob Menage started the bottom of the seventh by ripping a double over the centerfielder's head. Then Springfield played some perfect small ball. Ryan Beyer moved Menage to third with a sac bunt. Adam Schmid drew a walk. Then Zach Bisel laid down a squeeze bunt to score Menage and increase the Springfield lead to three.
Springfield added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth via RBI base hits from Marc Salazar and Menage.
With the score 7-2, the Tigers turned to Jason Nachreiner to seal the deal in the top of the ninth. It was Nachreiner's first appearance since he picked up a win in game two of the season at Essig. Nachreiner made things interesting, surrendering three runs on three hits, while also issuing a walk and hitting a batter. Ultimately, he got the all-important third out on a strikeout with the tying run at first base, making the final, 7-5.
Jacob Menage led the Tigers with two hits. Matt Vogel, Alex Fink, Ryan Sturm, and Marc Salazar contributed one hit each. Ryan Panning, Cody Berger, and Aaron Bruns led the way with two hits each for Gibbon. Alex Frank improved his record to 3-4 on the year with the win, working eight innings, allowing one earned run on five hits, with six ks and four walks. Kyle Maurer took the loss for the Reds, going the distance, giving up seven runs, four earned, on six hits, with two strikeouts and four walks.
The victory improves Springfield's record to 7-6 and 7-10 overall on the season. The Tigers, along with the rest of the league, will take a night off from regular contests on Friday night as they gather for the annual Tomahawk East League All-Star Game. This year the game is hosted by Stark. On Sunday, Springfield returns to action with a double-header, starting at 2pm in Sleepy Eye. Then they'll travel to St. James to make-up an earlier rain-out at 7pm. See you at the yard!
NOTES: Alex Fink, Zach Bisel, and Christian Loomis will represent Springfield at the Tomahawk East League All-Star Game on Friday night in Stark at 7:30pm. It is the first all-star selection for each player...Through 17 games the Tigers have yet to play in a one-run game. During a thirty game season in 2011, they played in three one-run games. In 2010, they played in fifteen one-run games...Since Gibbon joined the Tomahawk East in 2005, the Tigers have never lost to the Reds at Riverside Park in ten regular and postseason meetings.
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibbon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 12 |
| Springfield | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | x | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
Springfield Box
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bisel, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | SAC |
| Vogel, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| A. Fink, SS | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | HP |
| R. Sturm, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3B |
| Loomis, 2B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | SAC |
| M. Salazar, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brandl, RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | HP |
| Menage, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2B |
| Beyer, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | SAC |
| Schmid, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Frank, P | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Nachreiner, P | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 27 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | ||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||
| Frank (W, 3-4) | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |
| Nachreiner | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Pictures
