FL River City Rascals

Bullpen, Offense Finish Off Otters

Published on July 3, 2007 under Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


O'Fallon, MO--The River City Rascals came into Tuesday night having won back-to-back games and looking to tie a season long win streak with their third straight win. The Evansville Otters conversely, had lost a season high six in a row.

A game that started off as a slugfest, with both teams scoring eight runs through the first four innings, ended up coming down to the bullpens. For the second consecutive night it was the Rascals' bullpen that came out on top as the Rascals won 10-8.

Four Rascals' relievers, Chad Catalano, Chad Linder, Damian Ursin and Mike Benacka, combined to throw five scoreless innings while the Rascals' offense was able to pick up four runs off of the Otters' pen.

After the game, Rascals' manager Toby Rumfield touted his bullpen's effort.

"They have really come out here and done a nice job the last two nights," said Rumfield. "It's a big boost to this team to see them come out and put up zeros."

The Otters wasted no time in scoring, putting up two runs in the first off of four hits to take a 2-0 lead.

Third baseman Matthew Reynolds hit the first pitch of the game for a single followed by an RBI double from right fielder Justin Carr one batter later. After shortstop Ryan Bethel sacrificed Carr to third and catcher Tom Pennino flied out to right, first baseman Daniel Burton slapped an RBI single to bring home Carr.

The Rascals were able to post a run of their own in the first to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Center fielder Ryan Czyz led off the inning with an infield single, but was immediately picked off at first after straying to far from the bag. Right fielder Phil Laurent ground out to second to bring up first baseman Bobby Mosby with two outs and the basses empty. Mosby proceeded to hit a solo homer, his league leading 12th of the year, to make the score 2-1.

The Rascals jumped all over Otters' starter Matt Restivo in the second, scoring five runs on six hits while sending 10 men to the plate.

Left fielder Trey Hendricks and shortstop Brad Hough started the inning with back-to-back singles and were moved up to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Ken Lup. Third baseman Angel Colon drove both of them home in the next at bat with a 2-RBI single. One out later, Czyz singled followed by a single from Laurent to load the bases with two out for Mosby. Mosby was able to coax a walk to drive in the third run of the inning and keep the bases loaded for designated hitter Andy Bettis. Bettis delivered a 2-RBI double to give the Rascals a 6-2 lead.

Evansville was able to close the gap to 6-5 in the third, scoring three runs on three hits.

A leadoff walk by Carr followed by a single from Bethel put two men on with no one out. After Pennino flied out to center, Burton drove in Carr with an RBI single that also moved Bethel to second. Burton and Bethel were able to move up to second and third on a pass ball by Lup and with two out, left fielder Grant Harper drove both of them in with a 2-RBI single.

The Otters were able to re-take the lead in the fourth when they scored three runs for the second consecutive inning to give them an 8-6 lead.

Reynolds and Carr lead off the inning with walks followed by an RBI double by Bethel. Pennino then drove in Carr with an RBI single and Burton brought in Bethel on a fielder's choice to complete the scoring.

The Rascals were able to tie up the game in their half of the fourth, as they scored two runs on one hit to even the score at 8-8.

Second baseman Jeff Landry started things off with a leadoff single followed by Czyz who was able to reach on an error from Otters' pitcher Jared Trout. Back-to-back wild pitches from Trout allowed Landry to score and Czyz to reach first with nobody out. Laurent followed and was able to reach base after his swinging strike three got away from Pennino to bring up Mosby. Mosby flied out to short, but Bettis was able to pick up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to right field that tied the game at 8-8.

The game would remain tied all the way until the seventh inning when the Rascals were able to break through for two runs to take a 10-8 lead.

Hendricks led off the inning with a double and was substituted for by Joe Newman. Hough followed with a single and Rumfield sent Newman home only to have him gunned out at the plate by Harper. Hough was able to move up on the throw home though, and he was able to come around and score the go ahead run on Lup's RBI double the next at-bat. After an intentional walk to Colon, Lup was able to catch Otters' reliever Anthony Del Prette off guard and took off for third base. By the time Del Prette realized what was going on, he rushed his throw to third and the ball got away from Reynolds allowing Lup to score.

The Rascals' pen would complete the job from there with Ursin and Benacka shutting down Evansville through the last two innings.

Linder (1-0) got the win for the Rascals after throwing 1.1 scoreless innings while walking three and striking out one. Reliever Kyle Pawelczyk (0-1) took the loss for the Otters by giving up two runs, one earned, over .1 innings with a walk and no strikeouts. Mike Benacka struck out the side while loading the bases to pick up his sixth save.

The Rascals (17-23) head to Windy City to take on a ThunderBolts (32-8) team with the best record in the entire Frontier League. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 pm.

*Puppy Chow*

The Rascals return home on Saturday, July 7, for Superhero Night at T.R. Hughes Ballpark presented by Slackers CD! Fans are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite superhero.

Check out the River City Rascals Statistics

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Frontier League Stories from July 3, 2007


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