SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

A Look Back at the 2009 Suns Season

September 9, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


HAGERSTOWN, MD -- While most of the on-field achievements during the 2009 Hagerstown Suns season went to individuals, big crowds did the record-setting off the field, filling the Municipal Stadium stands like never before.

The 2009 season witnessed five of the seven largest crowds in Suns history, and a total of eight sell-outs, after the Suns sold out just twice over the previous six seasons. Affordable ticket packages like the All-You-Can Eat Hall of Fame plan and the Chick-fil-A Friends & Family Plan -- which each gave fans food and great Suns gifts along with their ticket -- contributed to the record attendance, as did a revamping of the Suns' on-field entertainment between innings.

The Suns players provided plenty of reasons to make it out to Municipal Stadium as well, racking up accolades and gaudy statistics as the season progressed.

Utility man Robby Jacobsen was the first Sun to make headlines around the South Atlantic League, with a 17-game hitting streak that lasted from April 14 to May 8. Jacobsen hit .387 during the streak, which ended up being the sixth-longest in the league all year. The most dramatic extension of the streak came on May 6, when Jacobsen kept his run going with a walk-off single against West Virginia to earn the Suns a 3-2 win.

Catcher Derek Norris quickly picked up where Jacobsen left off, becoming the first Sun of the year to take home SAL Player of the Week honors after hitting .556 with nine runs between May 11 and May 17. From that week on, Norris was entrenched among the league leaders in a bevy of offensive categories, and was a shoe-in as the North Division's starting catcher when rosters were announced for the SAL All-Star Jamboree on June 23.

Starting pitcher Marcos Frias joined Norris at the All-Star game, having opened eyes around the league by blossoming from the fifth starter in the Suns rotation on Opening Day into an ace, boasting a 4-1 record and 2.31 earned-run average at the time of his selection.

The first half of the Suns season also featured three rehab starts by southpaw Matt Chico, who posted a 4.63 earned-run average for the Washington Nationals in 31 starts in 2007, and did not walk a batter over three starts with Hagerstown.

Chico's Suns starts were strong, but short, and left-handed reliever Patrick McCoy made a name for himself by finishing what Chico started. McCoy brought home Hagerstown's only SAL Pitcher of the Week award of 2009 for the week ending June 15, earning two wins while pitching 11 and a third scoreless innings of relief to wrap up a pair of Chico starts.

The Suns roster was also graced by relief pitcher Drew Storen, the No. 10 overall pick in the June 2009 Major League Baseball Draft, who made his professional debut with the Suns just over a week after being selected. Storen struck out 26 batters over 14 and two thirds innings as a Sun without issuing a single walk, and by season's end he was pitching for Double-A Harrisburg, where he made ten scoreless appearances.

Offensively, meanwhile, the Suns developed a penchant in the first half for delivering walk-off wins in front of the Municipal Stadium faithful. On May 10 against West Virginia, first baseman Tyler Moore erased a 4-3 deficit with a two-run single in the Suns final turn at bat. Outfielder Charlie Fermaint waited until the 14th inning to provide the game-winning single against Kannapolis on May 29, and infielder Steven Souza secured a win with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly on June 13 against Delmarva. Curiously, the final score of all three walk-off victories was 5-4.

In the second half, Norris remained a force at the heart of the Hagerstown offense, finishing the year with a .286 batting average, a SAL-best .413 on-base percentage, and 23 home runs, second most in the league. At season's end, Norris was named the Designated Hitter on the SAL's post-season All-Star team, and also received one of the top three honors in the league as its Most Outstanding Major League Prospect.

The second half was noteworthy, however, in that Norris did not carry the Suns offense alone. Moore, who was not added to the Hagerstown roster until a month into the season, wasted little time lifting his statistics in line with the league's best. Moore finished the year as the Suns' leading hitter, at .297 (sixth in the SAL), and actually shot ahead of Norris in run production, with 87 runs batted in (second in the SAL).

Second baseman Steve Lombardozzi, meanwhile, asserted himself as the class of the SAL at his position, both offensively and defensively. Lombardozzi was named SAL Player of the Week after a red-hot, 11-RBI stretch ending July 17, and finished the year hitting .296 with 90 runs scored, second most in the league. Lombardozzi led all SAL second baseman with 259 putouts, 354 assists, and 75 double plays, as well as a fielding percentage of .987 that was just two points shy of the all-time SAL record at the position. Lombardozzi joined Norris on the SAL post-season All-Star team, voted the top second baseman in the league.

With their lineup chock full of standouts, the Suns put on a couple of explosive offensive displays at home in the second half, starting with a 15-3 win over Asheville on July 19, in which the Suns collected a season-high 24 hits, the second-most by any SAL team all year. Hagerstown hitters outdid themselves in a seven-inning affair against Delmarva in the first half of a doubleheader on August 30, scoring at least two runs in every inning of a 17-6 win.

Souza ended the year as the Suns' leader in stolen bases, with 25, while Frias (9-5) won the Hagerstown Triple Crown with team-best marks in wins, ERA (2.91) and strikeouts (112). Centerfielder Chris Curran made his case as the most exciting player in the league defensively, leading all outfielders in the SAL with 256 putouts and generating an endless highlight reel of acrobatic leaps, lunges and dives.

The Suns finished the second half with a record of 25-42, and wrapped up the season at 56-78, with six games scrapped due to weather conditions, and 17 postponements overall. The Hagerstown Suns play at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, MD and are a Class "A" affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Ticket packages and sponsorships are available by calling the Suns at 301-791-6266. Visit the Suns on the web at www.hagerstownsuns.com. The Suns are owned by Los Angeles based Mandalay Baseball Properties.

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South Atlantic League Stories from September 9, 2009


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