Beach Bums win exciting game in extra innings
Published on August 16, 2006 under Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
Al Roach drove home Nick Batkoski with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th as the Traverse City Beach Bums rallied three separate times in the game, defeating the Rockford RiverHawks 4-3 in 11 innings in front of 4,003 fans at Wuerfel Park.
Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, the Beach Bums cut the Rockford lead in half as Nick Batkoski led off the inning with a single. Brad Vericker came up and delivered a double deep into right-centerfield bringing Batkoski around from first to make it 2-1 TC.
Not content to stop there, the Beach Bums tied the game in the sixth. Justin Holmes led off the inning with a single. Steve Young's 18th sacrifice bunt of the season sent Holmes to second with one out. After a pop up, Vericker came up with his second RBI of the game - his third hit overall - a single to bring in Holmes and tie the score at 2-2.
The game remained 2-2 into the eighth when Bo Flowers led off the inning with a controversial double into left-centerfield. The ball appeared to hit off the top of the fence and bounce off the scoreboard for a homerun. However, the ball was ruled to have hit in the playing surface first and then bounced over the fence for a ground rule double sending Flowers back to second base. Flowers moved to third on a groundout. With the infield in, Steve Shippey tossed a wild pitch, bringing home Flowers to put Rockford up 3-2.
The bottom of the eighth saw Traverse City storm right back. With one out, Steve Young singled to right. Young moved up to second on a wild pitch by Adam Kroft. Batting next, Nick Batkoski worked a four pitch walk. The fourth pitch glanced off the glove of Rockford catcher Gooby Gerlits for a passed ball enabling Young to move up to third. Brad Vericker came up and grounded a ball to Richard Quihuis-Bell at first base. Trying for the double play, Quihuis-Bell threw to second to force out Batkoski, but the return throw was late as Young came plateward with the tying run and Vericker's third RBI of the game.
Steve Shippey continued to throw well for the Beach Bums as he pitched three scoreless innings before giving way to Hunter Davis after the 10th. Davis pitched a perfect inning in the top of the 11th to set up the Beach Bums dramatics in the bottom of the frame.
Nick Batkoski coaxed a walk from Jason James to start things off. Vericker hit a sharp ground ball to the right side moving Batkoski to second base. With first base open, Rockford manager J. D. Arndt elected to intentionally walk Doug Garcia to try to set up the double play. The strategy backfired as Al Roach ripped first ball fastball into left field for the game winning hit as Batkoski scored from second.
Hunter Davis (4-2) picked up the win in relief for the Beach Bums as Traverse City moves to 5-1 in extra inning games this season. The win came after three scoreless innings from Steve Shippey and seven strong from Ryan Gehring who allowed three runs, walking none and fanning three. Jason James (1-1) took the loss for the RiverHawks.
Rockford broke the ice on the scoreboard in the third inning. Brad Dutton led off the inning with a single. After a couple of fielder's choices got the Beach Bums two outs with Matt Sauls on first. Sauls stole second and came home on a single by Joe Anthonsen to make it 1-0 Rockford. Rockford added a run on a Brad Dutton single in the fourth to make it 2-0.
The Beach Bums remain in second place, a game ahead of Washington who beat Windy City 11-0. Chillicothe gained a half game of ground on Traverse City with their second straight doubleheader sweep of Gateway. The Paints are now two games up on first in the East.
Up next: The series finale will see Rockford send Dane Towery (4-6, 3.86) to the mound. The Beach Bums starter has not been announced. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. with coverage on 94.3 The Fox FM starting at 6:45.
Next home game: Thursday night is Ladies' Night at Wuerfel Park. The first 500 ladies (18 and over) will receive a silk rose from the Beach Bums. For tickets, call 943-0100; stop by the Wuerfel Park ticket office 10-6 on non-gamedays or 10-2 on gamedays or log on to www.traversecitybeachbums.com.
Frontier League Stories from August 16, 2006
- Otters strike back with 5-3 win behind two round trippers in game two - River City Rascals
- Bowlin Leads Freedom to 1-0 Victory - OSC Original by Andrew Kappes
- Otters split with Rascals - Evansville Otters
- Beach Bums win exciting game in extra innings - Traverse City Beach Bums
- RiverHawks lose winning streak in eleventh inning, fall 4-3 - Rockford RiverHawks
- Grizzlies drop two more to Paints - Gateway Grizzlies
- Washington shut out Windy City 11-0 - Washington Wild Things
- Cochran three hits Bolts in 11-0 blowout - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Freedom Dethrone Kings, 5-1 - OSC Original by Andrew Kappes
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