GreyWolves Hit the Road for Five Games
June 27, 2016 - West Coast League (WCL)
Gresham GreyWolves News Release
GRESHAM, Ore. - After a brief three-game stretch at home, the GreyWolves head back out on the road to continue their stretch of nine road games in 12 days. Gresham will first match up twice with Yakima Valley, resuming a matchup with the Pippins that started one week ago. Ensuing the trip to Yakima is a more traditional three-game set in the Puget Sound region against Kitsap, spanning Wednesday through Friday.
LAST TIME OUT
Gresham salvaged one game in a three-game series against Wenatchee at Oslund Field after dropping Games 1 and 2. The AppleSox put the opener out of question with an early 7-0 lead before they extended the advantage to 9-0. Despite nine hits on the evening, Gresham scored just once. Center fielder Ryan Smith (Southern Illinois) led the offensive charge for the GreyWolves with a 3-for-4 performance. In Saturday's second game, a close game was and an early GreyWolves' lead was foiled by a five-run inning from Wenatchee, who went on to win by five runs. The GreyWolves went down 6-0 in the series finale, but came storming back behind a four-hit performance from Jack Johnson (Washington), who scored three times as well. Dylan Doherty (Cal Poly) and Mark Cardinalli (UC Davis) also had multi-hit games for Gresham.
PITCHING PREVIEW
Gresham's probable starters are as follows:
* Monday - Game 1 at Yakima: LHP Aaron Shoup (St. Martin's) gets the nod for Gresham. Making his fourth start of the year, Shoup is coming off of his best outing of the season at Cowlitz on Tuesday. In the GreyWolves' one-run loss, Shoup limited the Black Bears to five hits and two earned runs over 6.1 innings of work. * Tuesday - Game 2 at Yakima: RHP Brett Gannaway (Columbia) will start the final matchup of the season between the GreyWolves and Pippins. The right-hander features a 3.00 ERA on the season and has previously had success against Yakima Valley. On Thursday, June 9 at Oslund Field, Gannaway limited the Pippins to just three hits and one run over 6.0 innings of work. The GreyWolves lost 4-3 to the Pippins. * Wednesday - Game 1 at Kitsap: TBA * Thursday - Game 2 at Kitsap: TBA * Friday - Game 3 at Kitsap: TBA
GREYWOLVES NOTES
* Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. (Cal) is riding a 10-game streak of reaching base safely, a mark which ranks in the league's top 10. The outfielder's .361 batting average ranks fourth in the West Coast League. * Jack Johnson (Washington) posted a four-hit game against Wenatchee in Sunday's series finale, the first four-hit game in team history. * The GreyWolves will try to improve on a .240 batting average in four games against the Pippins this season. Gresham handed Yakima Valley its first loss of the season on Saturday, June 11, but otherwise, the Pippins have had the GreyWolves' number, winning three of four contests on the season. * After Gresham's starting pitching staff started the season on fire, the last five games have been tough for the staff. In the last five games, the GreyWolves' staff has a 5.93 ERA. As the club hits the road, the pitching staff looks to return to the confidence that came in the first stretch of the season.
SITUATIONAL RECORDS
Home: 6-6
Series Records: 2-4
Road: 1-6
Shutouts: 1-1
Streak: W1
One-Run Games: 2-3
Last 5: 2-3
vs South Division: 4-6
1st Game of Series: 2-5
vs North Division: 3-6
2nd Game of Series: 3-3
Leading after six: 4-2
3rd Game of Series: 2-4
Leading after eight: 5-2
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Yakima Valley boasts the highest win total in the West Coast League's South Division and is in the running for the first-half division title with the Corvallis Knights. After a hot 6-0 start to the year, the Pippins have a pedestrian 6-9 record. They have dropped three of their last four games, including two of three in a series to Walla Walla. The recent skid from the Pippins hasn't affected their place in the West Coast League standings, ranking second in both offense (.278 batting average) and pitching (2.53 ERA).
HOW TO FOLLOW
* Live Audio: Every GreyWolves game - home and away - is available all summer long on GreyWolves Live, the exclusive home for GreyWolves Baseball all summer long. Join play-by-play broadcasters Alex Yavarski and Evan Giddings who bring you all of the action.Click here to listen. * Live Stats: All games feature live, pitch-by-pitch statistics via Pointstreak. Head to the West Coast League scoreboard for live stats.
• Discuss this story on the West Coast League message board...
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