SL1 Jackson Generals

Diamond Jaxx Homestand Warmup

Published on May 15, 2009 under Southern League (SL1)
Jackson Generals News Release


Notes for this Homestand Saturday, May 16th at 7:05PM: Fireworks brought to you by JEA JEA Customer Appreciation Night Honor Roll Night sponsored by Union University (rescheduled from May 8) TN Army National Guard Night Pink Jersey Auction brought to you by Union University to benefit Relay for Life (rescheduled from May 8)

Sunday, May 17th at 2:05PM (doubleheader): Super Soaker Sunday Church Bulletin Sunday (free admission with church bulletin) 4-H Day

Monday, May 18th at 7:05PM: Honor Roll Night sponsored by Union University

Tuesday, May 19th at 7:05PM: 4-H Night Industry Appreciation Night (Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce & JEA) Two for Tuesday (2-for-1 Admission, Hotdogs, Popcorn, Draft Beer, and Fountain Drinks)

Wednesday, May 20th at 11:05AM: School Day

Diamond Jaxx Kick Off Series with Barons in a Big Way Saturday Night

The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx will return to Pringles Park Saturday, May 16th. They are anticipating a big crowd for their series opener against the Birmingham Barons.

The Jaxx have a lot on the schedule. Saturday night is Jackson Energy Authority Customer Appreciation Night, National Guard Night, and they will recognize participants in the Diamond Jaxx Honor Roll presented by Union University. Honor Roll students who were scheduled to be recognized on Friday, May 8th have the opportunity to participate Saturday night due to last Friday's rain-out.

Saturday is also Union University's Relay for Life Night. This will be the first of three Saturday nights featuring special jerseys to be auctioned off during the game. These white jerseys have pink pinstripes, and black numbers on the back. All proceeds will benefit breast cancer awareness. Bidding will begin before the game and end after the final out of the seventh inning. The minimum bid is $75. To top off an already busy evening, Saturday night's game will conclude with fireworks, presented by JEA.

Season Review

The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx have compiled a 12-19 record this season. The Jaxx are in fourth place in the Northern Division of the Southern League this season, 4.5 games behind the Tennessee Smokies who sit in first.

The Diamond Jaxx lost top prospect Carlos Triunfel to a broken leg in the second game of the season. Triunfel, the 19-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic, was listed as a top-30 prospect in the minors by MiLB.com. He is said to have one of the best arms in baseball; Majors or Minors.

Adam Moore, a 2008 Southern League All-Star and Jaxx MVP, according to the Seattle Mariners Player Development staff, was promoted to Triple-A Tacoma on May 14th. Moore appeared in 27 games this season and batted .263 with three homeruns and 13 RBIs. He was replaced with Guillermo Quiroz, who brings Major League experience to the Jaxx lineup, playing with Toronto, Seattle, and Baltimore in his career. Quiroz signed a minor league contract with the Mariners on April 20th, and played in twelve games with Tacoma before making the move to West Tenn.

The Jaxx continue to be led on offense by outfielder Greg Halman, who boasts a team-leading ten homeruns and 28 RBIs. Another outfielder, Ezequiel Carrera, is having an outstanding year, batting .330 while drawing a team-leading 27 walks.

On the mound, the Mariners first round draft pick and 2008, Josh Fields, is starting his professional career in West Tenn. Fields has appeared in ten games this season. Although he had a rough first outing in which he gave up three earned runs and four walks, he showed his potential in striking out two in the inning. In the nine games since, Fields has given up three earned runs and walked five in 8 ? innings. Reliever Mumba Rivera leads the team in both wins (3) and ERA (2.04).

Road Series Game 4: Diamond Jaxx Shutdown by Lambert Thursday

Kodak, Tenn. (MAY 14, 2009) - The Diamond Jaxx fell for the second straight night to the Tennesse Smokies 7-1, breaking the streak of one-run games the teams have played.

Marshall Hubbard picked up an RBI hit in the top of the ninth preventing a shutout. Every hitter in the Smokies lineup reach base safely. Of the 15 Smokies hits, seven were for extra bases, three of those off the bat of Marquez Smith who went 3-4 with three doubles.

The Jaxx were shut down by left-hander Casey Lambert who pitched six shutout innings in the win. Patrick Ryan picked up his third loss of the season, pitching 4? innings, allowing five runs on ten hits.

With one game remaining in the series, the Jaxx will send right-hander Justin Souza to the mound Friday night.

Road Series Game 3: Smokies win game three of series against Jaxx 3-2 Kodak, Tenn. (May 13, 2009) - The Smokies (15-14) and Diamond Jaxx (12-18) have played some tight games in 2009 and that trend continued in game three of the series. The Jaxx fell 3-2 at Smokies Park, continuing the stretch of one-run games between the two teams.

The score was tied at two after three innings and would remain that way until the bottom of the eighth. The Smokies' Jim Adduci drove in his third run of the game, scoring Darwin Barney.

The Jaxx got a solid performance from starting pitcher, Danny Christensen. He pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits. Steve Bray suffered the loss.

For the Smokies, John Gaub picked up the win, and Brian Schlitter got the save.

Road Series Game 2: Diamond Jaxx Win Pitcher's Duel 1-0

Kodak, Tenn. (May 12, 2009) - The Diamond Jaxx (12-17) won an old fashioned pitcher's duel over Tennessee (14-14) 1-0. The Diamond Jaxx got a base hit in the top of the ninth inning by Jeff Dominguez, scoring Matt Mangini to give the Jaxx a 1-0 lead. Mumba Rivera (3-2) finished it off in the bottom half to secure the victory.

Diamond Jaxx starter Kyle Parker delivered an outing West Tenn had not seen in 2009. He pitched seven shut out innings, striking out three and walking three in the no decision.

After eight scoreless innings, Jeff Dominguez broke through with an RBI-single to center in the top of the ninth off Jeremy Papelbon, scoring Matt Mangini. Ironically, the same duo propelled the Jaxx to victory the previous night, with Dominguez scoring off a Mangini hit in the top of the 13th in game one of the series.

Mumba Rivera picked up his team-leading third win of the year, pitching two scoreless innings of relief.

Road Series Game 1: Mangini's Single in 13th Lifts Jaxx to Win Over Smokies

Kodak, Tenn. (May 11, 2009) - The Diamond Jaxx (11-17) took game one of the road series with the Tennessee Smokies (14-13) by the score of 4-3. Outstanding pitching down the stretch and timely hitting was the key to breaking their five game losing streak. Steven Hensley made his second start of the year for the Diamond Jaxx and pitched well, going six innings and giving up three runs on eight hits. He struck out four and walked only one in the no decision.

Mel Stocker went 2-4, with a triple and his first homerun of the year. Adam Moore had his first multi-RBI game this season, going 2-6 with two RBIs.

Matt Mangini knocked in the game-winning run with two outs in the top of the 13th on a line drive single to center, scoring pinch-runner Jeffery Dominguez. Dominguez had advanced to third on two wild pitches by Smokies pitcher Jeremy Papelbon.

Anthony Varvaro picked up his first win of the season for the Jaxx. He pitched 3? innings of relief, including getting out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the bottom of the tenth inning. Marwin Vega picked up his first save.

Halman Breaks out of Slump in Big Way

04/28/2009 By Mason Kelley / Special to MLB.com

As a top prospect, Greg Halman is learning ways to deal with pressure -- of the Mariners' franchise, of playing in the World Baseball Classic and, most importantly, of his own expectations.

It's taken about a month, but the top prospect is finally finding the balance he's been looking for.

Halman hit a pair of homers and drove in six runs Tuesday to lift the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx to a 12-6 victory over the Mississippi Braves.

"I always put a lot of pressure on myself," he said. Sometimes I've just got to take a little bit off and ... let my game take over."

It's been working of late. The 21-year-old outfielder now has eight homers, enough for second place in Minor League Baseball -- four behind Iowa Cubs' standout Jake Fox.

"I was way too aggressive ... trying to do too much, trying to go and get it instead of letting the game come to me," he said.

Prior to that, Halman had been trying to prove himself to the Mariners and the world at the Classic. He played in four games for the surprising Netherlands in the Classic, hitting .091 with a double.

"I wanted to show everybody that I could play, instead of just letting the game come to me and not being so overaggressive," he said.

Halman carried that same mentality into the season. It produced a couple of home runs, but didn't lead to sustained success right off the bat. He drove in three runs on several occasions, but also had a two-game stretch in which he struck out seven times.

Through extensive work with manager Phil Plantier and hitting coach Terry Pollreisz, Halman began to realize he was pressing.

"My manager and hitting coach are just working with me and telling me to put good swings on the ball," he said.

"That's what I've been trying to do. If I'm in that mode of trying to hit the ball out of the park, then it's all going to go downhill. I'm just trying to hit line drives and, sometimes, they go out."

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound slugger started to turn the corner with a two-homer, four-RBI performance April 24. In the past three games, he is 6-for-13 with three homers and nine RBIs.

Halman won't get too worked up about his recent success, adding that it is simply something to build on.

"It feels good," he said. "I'm very excited and I'm going to build off this. I'm not going to be like, 'Oh, this is one game.' No, these are things you can build off of."

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Southern League Stories from May 15, 2009


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