Record-Setting Victory For Flyers

Published on July 27, 2008 under Northern League (NL)
Schaumburg Flyers News Release


Schaumburg, IL - Fireworks proved to be a theme on Saturday night between the Schaumburg Flyers and Kansas City T-Bones. Not only did 8,424 fans pack Alexian Field for the fireworks show after the game, they were treated to fireworks between the lines as well. Schaumburg (23-41) put 16 runs up on 21 hits, and outlasted the T-Bones for a 16-13 win.

Kansas City (32-31) did its best to ruin the Flyers' night from the outset. After the first two T-Bones reached base in the first inning, RF Greg Jacobs (2-for-4, 4 RBI) sent a home run out to left field to make the score 3-0 before an out was recorded. Schaumburg hurler Steve Shippey (3-6) would face more adversity after that first out was made, as three straight T-Bones hitters reached on consecutive doubles to make the score 5-0. After SS Geoff McCallum (3-for-5, RBI) singled in a run to make it 6-0, Shippey induced a double play to end the frame.

With their task clearly defined by the big inning, the Flyers went to work in the bottom of the first. The game began auspiciously for the home team, as SS Mark Haske (1-for-4, 3 R) reached on an error to begin the night's offensive barrage. His run would score on a single by 3B Vince Harrison (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 4 R) that made it 6-1. After two outs in the inning, a sacrifice fly from CF Rob Fischer (1-for-5, RBI) put another run on the board, and an error off the bat of 1B Chris Gaskin (1-for-4, 3 RBI) helped another man in to make it a 6-3 game after one full inning.

After Shippey sent the T-Bones down in order to start the second frame, Schaumburg stormed ahead. Haske sent a one-out triple into left field that set up another RBI single for Harrison that made it 6-4. After a walk to DH Calvin Pickering (3-for-5, 2 RBI) that put men on first and second, RF Peanut Williams (3-for-6, 4 RBI) unleashed a cannon. Williams crushed a ball over the Bud Light Party Patio in left field to fully erase the early deficit and put the Flyers on top 7-6.

The visitors fought back to tie it in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Kansas City CF Aharon Eggleston (2-for-6, RBI), but another Flyer blast would lead the charge in a seven-run bottom of the fourth. Vince Harrison led off the inning with his third straight single, followed immediately by two straight strikeouts by T-Bones reliever Bobby Carrington (1-1). That put two men out with nobody yet to score in the frame, and despite a single by Fischer, the inning seemed basically over. Nobody mentioned that to Chris Gaskin, who sent a three-run homer out to left field to give Schaumburg a 10-7 advantage.

That blast was followed by a double from C Lance Koenig (2-for-5, Run), and an error off the bat of 2B Wilson Matos (3-for-5, 2 R) scored Koenig to make it 11-7. After a walk to Mark Haske, LF Jermaine Allensworth (3-for-6, 2 RBI) continued the two-out magic, plating two runs on a double. Pickering dealt the frame's final blow on a single up the middle to score Allensworth and move the lead to seven runs. All of the runs plated by Schaumburg in the fourth were scored after two men were out, and 15 of the 16 Flyer tallies scored with two outs in an inning.

After the big inning, Kansas City would continue to pick away at the lead with single runs in the fifth through eighth innings. T-Bones C Craig Hurba (4-for-6, 3 RBI) would be the catalyst for much of the scoring, doubling in a run in the fifth and hitting a long home run to lead off the seventh. That homer answered a Flyer run driven in by Calvin Pickering in the sixth, and made the score 15-10. The eighth-inning run for Kansas City came in on a single by 1B Ken Harvey (2-for-5, 2 RBI), and put the score within a slam's reach at 15-11.

Schaumburg sought insurance in the bottom of the eighth, and they got it off the bat of Peanut Williams. A two-out double scored Vince Harrison for the fourth time on the night to maintain a five-run lead going into the ninth.

The T-Bones deserve some credit for putting the go-ahead run at the plate in their last at-bat. Flyers reliever David Byard couldn't shut the door on Greg Jacobs with two away, allowing an RBI single to make it 16-12. After Byard walked the bases loaded, closer John Smith (SV 3) was called in by manager Steve Maddock, but he walked Kansas City DH/1B Jim Fasano (1-for-5, RBI) to score the thirteenth T-Bones run. With Hurba - the most consistent hitter for Kansas City all night - at the plate, the visitors had a chance for an improbable comeback. That's when Smith shut the door, inducing a groundout to Wilson Matos to end the game. When it was all said and done, every starter on both teams had scored at least one run and earned at least one hit, and the teams combined for 29 runs on 39 hits . . . both records in Flyers games this season.

With a series victory in place, Schaumburg tries for the sweep tomorrow afternoon. The home team will call on RHP Brian Finch (0-5, 5.42) to make it three wins in a row, while Kansas City counters with RHP Anthony Snow (4-3, 4.98). Come see American Idol sensation William Hung at Alexian Field tomorrow, before and during a game that begins at 1:20 p.m. If you can't make it out to Schaumburg, you can always listen to the play-by-play on flyersbaseball.com.

The Schaumburg Flyers are a member of the Northern League, a 6-team Independent Professional Baseball League established in 1993. Opening Day is May 15th, 2008. For ticket information call (847) 891-BALL (2255) or visit www.flyersbaseball.com

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Northern League Stories from July 27, 2008


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