Cats Can't Climb out of Early Hole
August 11, 2012 - North American League (NAmL)
Fort Worth Cats News Release
ABILENE - The 10-run lead that the Prairie Dogs built over the first three innings on Saturday was good enough to snap Abilene's three-game losing streak. Despite the Cats scoring seven unanswered to cut the massive deficit, the Dogs rode massive production from the first three hitters in their lineup to a 12-8 victory over Fort Worth at Walt Driggers Field.
Joe Weik highlighted a two-run first by knocking in a pair of runs with a double to right-center field. However, the league's leader in total bases was not close to finished. The power-hitting Texan drove in another run in the second inning and two more when his single knocked in Eddie Browne and Jason Martin in the bottom of the third.
When the Dogs finally finished their offensive onslaught, they had scored 10 runs on 12 hits over the first three frames. Their efforts, however, did not go unassisted. The Cats defense committed four errors over the first three frames, making five of the runs unearned.
Among the highlights in the first three innings included Zach Welch and Martin scoring three runs each. Martin went 3-for-5 and added an R.B.I. while Welch was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in.
Erik Gonsalves took the hill in his first start with Abilene. Coming off a full season in the Pecos League, Gonsalves faced only 11 batters over the first three innings before allowing a two-run fourth.
In the fifth, the Cats blitzed the youngster in a four-run frame that included Jose Ruiz's sixth homer of the season, a three-run dinger that banged off the light stanchion behind the 365-foot marker in right- center, trimming the Dogs lead to four.
Gonsalves lasted five innings and surrendered six runs on eight hits on the way to a victory.
The Cats cut the lead down to three on Antoin Gray's RBI single in the seventh off Derek Dingeman. Gray went 4-for-5 with a two runs scored and a pair of R.B.I.s, and Dingeman fired three innigns of relief, giving up one run on four hits and three strikeouts. Fort Worth's hitters in the two through four spots in the lineup were excellent, as Chuck Caufield, Antoin Gray, and Jose Ruiz combined to go 9-for-15 with five RBIs.
The Dogs will host Fort Worth in the fourth game of this eight game series when the teams collide at Walt Driggers Field at 6:05 on Sunday night.
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North American League Stories from August 11, 2012
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