Aces Win Second Straight Come from Behind Game against San Angelo
June 5, 2013 - United League Baseball (ULB)
Alexandria Aces News Release
ALEXANDRIA- Shortstop Michael Hayes' single drove in the game tying run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and then scored the game winning run in the bottom of the tenth from third base on Zack Cadet's infield single to give the Alexandria Aces their second straight come-from-behind victory against the San Angelo Colts, 6-5.
"I love it! I love the victory," said Aces manager Von Hayes. "The only way you can gain ground is by winning a series."
The triumph, Alexandria's third straight, evened the Aces' record at 6-6 and pulled them even with San Angelo in the standings roughly 15 percent of the way through the season.
"I'm happy with where we've come because of the tough luck we've had. We've only been blown out of one game. All the others we've had a chance to win," Hayes said.
The game was billed as a potential great pitchers duel, with Ryan Zimmerman taking a league-leading 0.64 earned run average to the mound for the Aces against the Colts' 2-0 Adam Rowe.
But while neither pitcher was poor, neither had a quality start, either.
Zimmerman allowed three runs, eight hits, and four walks in five innings. He was touched for two runs in the first inning when Braden Embry walked with the bases loaded and .125 hitting Bubby Williams drove in his first run of the season in his 49th plate appearance with a single to left field, and allowed his third in the third inning when Williams doubled and Oscar Garcia singled.
But Austin Newell, batting third due to Rowe's southpaw status after a couple of days in the cleanup spot, hit a 2-run home run to right field to tie the game in the first, and Derrick Pyles his his third home run to drive in his 12th run, both United League highs, to the game 3-3 after three innings.
The Aces took a 4-3 lead off Rowe in the bottom of the sixth when Nick Mahin scored on a groundout off the bat of Cameron Dullnig, but Rowe left with the lead after Garcia hit a 2-run single though the box with the bases loaded and two out off Aces reliever Clay Vanderlaan the following inning to give San Angelo a 5-4 advantage.
But it was at this point where the Colts defense fell apart, and the Aces' bullpen came together. With a day off tomorrow, Hayes felt he could ask his closer, Gabe Grammer, to come on and pitch two innings.
Grammer responded by not allowing San Angelo to hit as much as a fair ball. He struck out six and walked one in his two innings of work simply by blowing his 90-plus mile an hour fastball by hitters.
Meanwhile with the Aces hitting in the bottom of the eighth, Newell struck out against San Angelo middle reliever Cephas Howard, but reached base on catcher Chris Caves pass ball.
After Mahin forced Newell at second on a bunt, Pyles responded with his third hit of the day. Howard came back to get Cameron Dullnig to look at a third strike, leaving the task of tying the game up to Haynes, who had just one hit in his previous 16 at bats.
Haynes responded to the challenge by hitting a single off the glove of shortstop Danny Hernandez to plate Mahin from second base and tie the score.
"I took one to see it," said Haynes, following the fundamentals. "I was looking fastball and got it."
After a scoreless ninth and Alexandria righthander Alex Schmarzo's (1-0) scoreless tenth, the Aces won the game in the bottom of the extra frame.
With closer Alfredo Caballero on for his second inning of work, Haynes reached base on an error by Colts third baseman Steve Rinaudo with one out. After stealing second base, Ryan Gasporra was walked intentionally, allowing the possibilty of Doug Freeman to get a game ending hit for the second straight game.
But Caballero threw a wild pitch, and Colts manager Doc Edwards ordered an intentional walk to the ninth place hitting catcher.
With the bases loaded, Aces' leadoff hitter hit a weak ground ball that didn't quite make it to first base.
But it was hit just light enough and just far enough out of the reach of Caballero (0-1) and first baseman Kyle Nichols that Haynes was able to score easily to give the Aces the victory.
After a day off, Alexandria will travel to Harlingen, Texas to play the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings in their first road series of the year. The Aces will return to Alexandria next Monday for a four game series with the Fort Worth Cats.
Vanderlaan, who faced four hitters in Tuesday's game, will pitch for the Aces in the first game of the series Thursday at 7:05 p.m. CDT.
• Discuss this story on the United League Baseball message board...
United League Baseball Stories from June 5, 2013
- Aces Win Second Straight Come from Behind Game against San Angelo - Alexandria Aces
- Aces Beat Colts with Another Walk-Off - San Angelo Colts
- Aces Beat Colts with Another Walk-Off - San Angelo Colts
- Cats Bested by Wilson - Fort Worth Cats
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
