'Leon' debuts in Flyers loss

May 22, 2005 - Northern League (NL)
Schaumburg Flyers News Release


ST. PAUL, MN- A scoreless inning of relief by Nigel Thatch provided one of the few bright spots for the Schaumburg Flyers on Sunday, May 22 as St. Paul defeated the Flyers 15-2 at Midway Stadium. Schaumburg fell to 2-1 while the Saints won for the first time this season, moving to 1-2.

Thatch, the 'Leon' character from the Budweiser commercials, entered a 15-2 game and recorded one strikeout, one hit allowed and no walks in the bottom of the eighth inning. He struck out Nick Gretz on three pitches to start his first professional outing. A wind aided bloop double by T. Brown with one away accounted for the only hit off Thatch. The right-hander retired Billy Munoz and Chad Ehrnsberger to end the inning.

Earlier, the Saints knocked out Flyers starter Blake Williams (0-1) during a five-run third inning that blew the game open. The Saints started that inning ahead 2-1 but sent 11 men to the plate against Williams and rookie reliever Charlie Hahn. Williams allowed seven runs and 10 hits over 2.1 innings in his first start of the season. Like Thatch, Hahn made his pro debut in the game. The Rolling Meadows and UIC product struggled through 1.1 innings, allowing five more runs.

St. Paul tacked on three runs against reliever Raymond Jenkins (1.1 IP) before E.J. Shanks and Thatch shut out the Saints over the last three innings. The Saints did their damage without a home run on Sunday.

Flyers 3B Chris Weekly stayed hot with his third homer of the season, a solo shot in the second inning. Eddie Romprey added a solo blast in the fourth. Both homers were allowed by Saints RHP Darren Truty (1-0). Truty worked eight solid innings for the victory.

St. Paul tied a Northern League record with nine doubles in the game. T. Brown went 5-for-6 and finished a homer shy of the cycle. Ehrnsberger and Jeremy Frost drove in four runs apiece.

The Flyers will go for three out of four on Monday evening in the series finale. LHP R.J. Swindle will make his Schaumburg debut vs. St. Paul righty Rich Cartier. Catch the webcast at flyersbaseball.com. Schaumburg opens the home schedule on Tuesday night vs. Fargo (7:05 PM). Tickets are available at flyersbaseball.com or at (847) 891-2255.

Notes: Eddie Romprey reached in all four plate appearances on Sunday with a 2-for-2, BB, hit by pitch performance...



Northern League Stories from May 22, 2005


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