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Gold Sees Tri-State Lead Tarnished |
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Written by Steve DeDoes for Toledo Hawks Baseball
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Wednesday, 06 July 2011 08:46 |
1-3 Weekend in Eastern Swing
The Toledo "Gold" Hawks entered the first weekend of July at 13-3 in the Tri-State League. Saturday, the Hawk bats took a bit of a holiday vacation in games against the Ohio (Youngstown) Glaciers, as some fine pitching performances came up short in 3-2 and 1-0 Gold losses. On Sunday, July 3, the Hawks finally got some offensive fireworks going to earn a split with the Canton Terriers; after dropping the first game 7-4, the Gold squad bounced back to claim an important 10-3 victory before heading to Monday barbeque action.
Gold Hawk pitching was solid-to-spectacular on Saturday. In the first game, Brett Kuebler (Siena Heights/Toledo) held a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, having only allowed an unearned run on a 2nd-inning error. However, the Glaciers warmed up to put three consecutive hits together in the 6th - including a triple and double - and thus put the freeze on Kuebler's 7-hit, 1-walk, 2-strikeout effort. Offensive production was sparse in support of Kuebler; Blake Schmenk (Owens CC/Perrysburg) swatted three singles, including one that ignited a two-run Hawk outburst in the 3rd. However, the ensuing 3rd-inning RBI hits off the bats of Brett Howard (Siena Heights/Toledo) - who doubled - and Eric Croak (Toledo/Toledo) represented the only serious statement put forth by the Hawks at the plate. Mike Lollo (Siena Heights/Allen Park, MI) belted a double to right-center with one out in the seventh, putting runners at second and third with one out; however, a strikeout - followed by Schmenk's lineout to center - ended Hawk hopes of a comeback, and left the final score at 3-2.
Corey Alexander (Siena Heights/Toledo) fashioned a mound masterpiece in Game Two. Heading into the seventh, he had allowed but two fifth-inning walks while striking out eight Glacier hitters in a no-hit bid. Glacier bats, however, thawed out against Alexander in the bottom of the seventh. A leadoff single broke up the no-no, followed by a sacrifice bunt and another hit - and set up a sacrifice fly that brought home the game-winning run in a 1-0 contest. Obviously, Alexander got no offensive help as only five scattered singles - by Schmenk, Howard, Cory Lehman (Siena Heights/Toledo) and Oberlin teammates Mattie DeDoes (Ann Arbor, MI) and Steve DiNanno (Northbrook, IL) showed up in the book for the Hawks. And only in the third did they mount their only challenge; but DeDoes, attempting to score from second on Lehman's two-out hit up the middle, was gunned down at the plate to end both the inning and the only Hawk scoring threat.
Sunday Action
Game One starter Ricky Volante (Lake Erie/Tappahannock, VA) struggled by frequently falling behind Terrier hitters, but pitched gamely through five innings. When the Gold Hawk offense finally got going with three runs in the top of the sixth, it looked like Volante might be able to gut out the victory. Even after loading the bases in the bottom of the sixth - on two hits and a walk - Volante reached back to strike out the next two hitters, running his total to four against the 11 hits and two walks he allowed. Volante couldn't ultimately escape, though, as he ran out of quality pitches. A two-run single was followed by a two-run homer and another single, and Andy Joseph (Owens CC/Sylvania) was summoned to get the final out. Offensively, solo home runs by Howard (in the 3rd) and Lehman (leading off the 6th) sparked the Hawk attack, and singles by Howard, R.J. Rios (Adrian/Toledo) and Ryan Williams (Tiffin/Maumee) in the 6th inning created the two additional runs in that frame, and the 4-2 lead. Lollo also added two singles to the Hawks' eight-hit total, but it wasn't enough in an eventual 7-4 loss.
After all the tough defeats, Sunday's Game Two gave the Hawks the celebratory mood they were seeking for the upcoming Fourth of July. An eight-run assault in the top of the first, helped by two Terrier errors, provided the fireworks that the Hawk pitching staff had been waiting to see. Zak Esposito (Owens CC/Sandusky) was the beneficiary of the early onslaught, as he cruised through six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks; Esposito recorded three strikeouts, and then looked on as Joseph threw a 1-2-3 seventh inning. By this time, the Hawk lead had grown to 10-3. The visitors from Toledo - after going hitless through the next four innings - were able to tally two more scores in the sixth.
The first-inning outburst saw most of the highlights, and leadoff hitter Lehman notched two hits in the frame as the Hawks sent eleven men to the plate. Croak (2 RBI's), Eric Yunker (Ohio Northern/Holland), Rios, and Williams (2 RBI's) also added hits to the first-inning fray, as the visitors capitalized on their early opportunity. Lehman added a 2nd RBI, when he brought home the final run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly; Lollo had previously led off the inning with a single and had scored on an error.
After the 1-3 weekend, the Gold Hawks now sit at 14-6 in the Tri-State League.
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