TL1 Springfield Cardinals

Cardinals' Rally Stopped by Storms, Hooks Win Rain-Shortened Game, 8-5

Published on April 17, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Springfield Cardinals News Release


Corpus Christi, TX - Right after the Springfield Cardinals rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh, thunderstorms sent the game into a rain delay. With the storms continuing and severe weather throughout the area, the umpires called the game and the Corpus Christi Hooks prevailed, 8-5, in the rain-shortened, 6.5-inning contest before 5,185 fans at Whataburger Field on Friday night.

The Cardinals (1-7) came out swinging, jumping in front in the top of the first inning against RHP Kyle Westwood (W, 1-0). CF Charlie Tilson and RF Nick Martini sparked the offense with consecutive sharp singles to start the game. 2B Jacob Wilson then launched a deep fly ball to the warning track in left field. LF Leo Heras ran it down, but Tilson tagged and scored on the Wilson sacrifice fly, lifting Springfield into the early 1-0 lead.

The Hooks (7-1), however, had a speedy response, plating a pair in the bottom of the first against RHP Thomas Lee (L, 0-2). 2B Tony Kemp led off with a walk, before stealing second base. Kemp then came in on an RBI double from SS Carlos Correa. Correa took third on a groundout, before scoring on an RBI single by DH Telvin Nash for the 2-1 lead.

Corpus Christi added an insurance run in the bottom of the third with an RBI grounder from Nash, before adding five more runs in the sixth. RF Brandon Meredith led off the inning with a solo home run, followed one out later from a double by LF Leo Heras. Heras came in on an RBI single from C Roberto Pena, which led to LHP Justin Wright taking over on the mound. Kemp came up next and worked a walk, putting two on for Correa. Correa drove his second RBI double of the day, promptly followed by a two-run single from 3B Colin Moran. Wright then dug in, dealing back-to-back strikeouts to get the Cardinals out of the inning, but the Hooks had opened an 8-1 advantage.

Springfield, though, started chipping the deficit down right away in the top of the seventh. Facing RHP Angel Baez, Tilson smoked his third single of the game to start the stanza. Martini and Wilson then worked back-to-back four-pitch free passes, loading the bases with no outs. Baez got DH David Washington on a strikeout, but 1B Jonathan Rodriguez came through. The 2014 Texas League All-Star ripped a two-run single to left field, bringing in Tilson and Martini to cut it to 8-3. RHP Jandel Gustave took over on the hill and induced a pop out, but SS Aledmys Diaz kept the inning alive with an infield single, loading the bases once again. 3B Alex Mejia followed with a rocket up the middle, scoring Wilson and Rodriguez with a two-run base hit to make it just an 8-5 deficit.

Immediately following the last out in the top of the seventh, the umpires called for the tarp and sent the game into a rain delay with severe thunderstorms in the area. With the storms continuing and more severe weather on the way, the umpires called the game, resulting in a rain-shortened 8-5 win for the Hooks in 6.5 innings.

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Texas League Stories from April 17, 2015


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