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"Smitty" goes the distance in aviators 4-3 win over Cats

May 15, 2004 - Central Baseball League (Central League)
Coastal Bend Aviators News Release


ROBSTOWN, TX – Mike Smith twirled his first complete game of the season and the Coastal Bend Aviators rallied for three runs in the 7th inning to top the Fort Worth Cats 4-3 in front of 2,766 Saturday night at Fairgrounds Field in Robstown...the victory snapping the Aviators four-game losing streak.

Smith was matched up against former major leaguer Shad Williams of Fort Worth, and for the first three innings the expected pitching duel kept both teams off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the 3rd, though, Carlos Adolfo cracked a solo home run to left field...his first big fly of the year giving Coastal Bend a 1-0 lead. It would prove to be short-lived – Fort Worth strung together four consecutive singles in the top of the 4th, and with the help of an error and sacrifice fly plated three runs in the inning to go up 3-1.

The Aviators put runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the 5th, but Williams worked out of the jam to maintain the Cats two-run advantage, but he would not be as fortunate in the 7th. David Bell led off the inning with a single...then J.R. Cortez lined a double off the base of the left field wall to drive Bell home and cut the deficit to one. Brandon Wood came on in relief for Fort Worth and promptly hit Dalphie Correa with a pitch, then surrendered an infield single to Adolfo to load the bases. Matt Mann laced a liner back through the box that ricocheted off Wood's leg...Cortez scored the tying run on the infield hit, but Correa was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second. With runners now on first and second, Eric Battersby grounded to third base, but the Cats, trying to turn an inning-ending double play, threw the ball away allowing Adolfo to score what turned out to be the winning run. Now with a lead, Smith did the rest, tossing a scoreless 8th and 9th inning to preserve the Aviators 4-3 victory and halt Fort Worth's modest winning streak at three.

Smith (1-1) struck out eight en route to his first victory of the year, while Wood (1-1) was saddled with the loss. Both teams had eight hits on the night – Adolfo, Mann and Cortez had two safeties apiece for the Aviators, while Terence Green, Terrell Merriman, Bryon Smith and Erick Mejias all had two hits to pace the Cats. Saturday's win improved Coastal Bend's record to 4-5 on the season, with Fort Worth dropping to 6-4 on the year. The final tilt in the two-game mini-series is slated for tomorrow, with the Aviators sending right-hander Jose Luis Lopez (1-0) to the mound opposing righty Angel Aragon (1-1) for the Cats.

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