Astros blast Cardinals on way to 10-3 victory
June 21, 2012 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Johnson City, TN - The Greeneville Astros carried the momentum from Tuesday's late rally against the Johnson City Cardinals into an offensive outburst on Wednesday night. The Astros had a five-run first inning and concluded the game with a 10-3 victory, giving them the series win over the two-time defending Appalachian League champions.
Greeneville finished the game with 19 hits, a mark they had only reached one other time since the 2004 season. Individually, Jean Batista tied a team record with five hits in a game, finishing 5-for-6 at the plate. Meanwhile, Jimmy Howick and Ariel Ovando each went 4-for-5. Of Ovando's four hits, three were for extra bases as he connected on two doubles and a triple.
It all got started in the first inning with a leadoff walk by D'Andre Toney followed by consecutive base hits from Batista and Brian Blasik to score the first run. Then, Ovando and Howick each connected on two-run doubles to put the Astros up 5-0 by the end of the first inning.
The Astros proceeded to score a run in each of the next three innings as well. In the second inning, Terrell Joyce got in on the action with a run-scoring double. In the third inning, Ovando hit his second double and was brought home on a Jimmy Howick ground ball single to center field. An Ovando RBI single in the fourth inning to score Batista gave the Astros their biggest lead at 8-0.
Johnson City finally got two runs on the scoreboard in the fourth inning on consecutive groundouts after having runners at second and third. In the sixth inning, they added one more run on a solo homer by Jeremy Schaffer to make the score 8-3.
The Astros, however, did not let up and answered those scores in the top of the seventh inning. Ovando led off with a triple and scored when the next batter, Ricky Gingras, singled on a ground ball to right field. To close out the scoring, Gingras came home on a Batista RBI single.
Greeneville starter Francis Ramirez (1-0) got the win, giving up two runs on three hits in five innings. The Astros will travel to Kingsport to begin a three-game series with the Mets on Friday night. For more information on the Greeneville Astros, please visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.
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Appalachian League Stories from June 21, 2012
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