Rattlers Bop Peoria
April 5, 2014 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release
GRAND CHUTE, WI - The sun shined on the bats of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Saturday afternoon and Wisconsin defeated the Peoria Chiefs 8-4 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Jose Pena, Taylor Brennan, and Michael Ratterree each had two hits for the Rattlers. Pena drove in a pair of runs, Clint Coulter had a key hit and Chris McFarland homered for Wisconsin.
Both teams had chances to score in the second inning, but neither team could push a run home in the second.
The Chiefs (1-1) cashed in their opportunity in the third. Carson Kelly's two-out triple drove in Michael Schulze from third base and Peoria was up 1-0.
Ratterree started the Wisconsin fourth inning with a single. Brennan followed with a single and Clint Coulter walked to load the bases to bring Pena to the plate. Pena lined the first pitch of his at bat through the left side of the infield to drive in Ratterree with the tying run.
"It's a fine line when you have the bases loaded," said Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson about Pena's approach on the tying run. "You are naturally going to be aggressive, but you want it to be a controlled aggressiveness. And you don't want to let a pitch go by that you can drive. I don't want them to be passive in those situations where we have chances to score runs and Pena has swung the bat pretty good the last couple of days."
The Rattlers (1-1) added on when Angel Ortega's fly ball to left field was dropped for an error and Brennan scored. Omar Garcia knocked in Coulter with a run-scoring fielder's choice and the Rattlers had a 3-1 lead.
Peoria cut into the lead with a run in the fifth inning. Juan Herrera was at third base with two outs and Wisconsin starting pitcher Barrett Astin got Mason Katz to swing and miss at strike three. But, the ball got away for a wild pitch to let Herrera score.
Wisconsin came back with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Ratterree started the rally with a one-out double. Brennan drew a walk to bring Coulter to the plate. The Rattlers catcher lined a double down the line in left field to drive in Ratterree and send Brennan to third.
"The one thing that stands out about [Coulter] is the way that he's taking pitches," Erickson said. "He looks relaxed and looks like he is seeing pitches early. When the balls not in the zone, he's not committing at all. That tells me he's seeing the ball good and he's hit the ball hard."
Pena followed with an RBI single to score Brennan. Ortega's sacrifice fly to center was deep enough to drive in Coulter and the Rattlers were up 6-2.
"The middle of the lineup - 4-5-6-7 - was real good," said Wisconsin manager Matt Erickson. "Collectively we got seven hits out of that group today."
Astin turned the game over to Tristan Archer for the top of the sixth after he allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
McFarland picked up his first hit of the season when he launched a one-out home run to center in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"I would have taken a single," said McFarland. "Just to get that first hit helps a lot."
"I was in the cages a lot and hit off the machines," said McFarland about his offseason workouts. "Plus, I did a lot of yoga and flexibility stuff to get me lower on my ground balls. And I worked out with Rafael Thomas, who was drafted by the Dodgers and played at Oklahoma State. He was a great guy to work out with and he kept me motivated and pushed me with some serious working out."
McFarland isn't the only person in the Timber Rattlers clubhouse who hopes the freezing workouts in the Lufkin (TX) High School indoor facility pay off this season.
"He's a guy who's got some foot speed, is capable of bunting, is capable of hitting behind the runner, and he's capable of run production," Erickson said of McFarland. "It would be good to see him take over that two-hole where he could set the table and at the same time drive some runs in."
Archer pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh innings, but the Chiefs crept back into the game with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the eighth. Kelly reached on an error to start the inning and was still on base with two outs. Jake Stone doubled to drive in Kelly. Steve Bean walked and Herrera followed with an RBI single to cut the Rattlers lead to three.
Garcia got one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth. Garcia singled, stole second, went to third on a balk by Peoria reliever Joe Scanio, and scored on another balk by Scanio.
"It was a great team win and I liked what Matty said after the game," said McFarland. "'Just because we get a lead doesn't mean the game is over.' We have to get even tougher and shut them down and score more runs."
Archer pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up a four inning save. He allowed two runs on three hits with three walks, and three strikeouts.
"Coulter told me when he got to third base in about the third inning that we're going to have a good team this year," said Erickson. "I said, 'Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves.'"
"But he came back a couple of innings later and I said, 'You keep hitting the ball like that and I believe you. We're going to be pretty good."
The Timber Rattlers and Chiefs will wrap their four game series with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. The first seven inning game is scheduled to start at 1:05pm with Anthony Banda as the starting pitcher for Wisconsin facing Alex Reyes for Peoria. The nightcap pitching matchup features Preston Gainey for the Rattlers against Chase Brookshire for the Chiefs.
There is a lot going on Sunday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Before the Rattlers and Chiefs play fans can play catch on-field courtesy of Rasmussen College. Rollie Fingers will make an appearance at the game. Fans may purchase one of a limited number of VIP Packages (box seat ticket, a pregame meet & greet with Fingers, and one guaranteed autograph) for $35 from the Timber Rattlers for Sunday's game.
Fingers will also throw out a ceremonial first pitch and sign for fans on third base concourse near the Festival Grill until the fifth inning. Please see this link to read the autograph guidelines for the Rollie Fingers appearance. Sunday is also the final Throwback game of the homestand with 1995 ticket prices and jerseys.
Additionally, Timber Rattlers players will be available for an autograph session after the game.
If you can't make it out to the game, tune into to the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 12:45pm. Sunday's games are available on IHeartRadio and MiLB.TV, too.
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