Flyers Win a Thriller in Joliet
Published on July 18, 2008 under Northern League (NL)
Schaumburg Flyers News Release
Joliet, IL - What a game. A contest that saw 22 runs and 33 hits between both ballclubs ended in victory for the Schaumburg Flyers on Thursday night. Despite an eight-run explosion from the Joliet JackHammers in the bottom of the first inning, the Flyers won their second extra-inning affair of the series by a final score of 12-10 in 12 innings.
Joliet's (27-27) very first turn to bat brought eleven men to the plate. The barrage began with a one-out double by JackHammers SS Nick McIntyre (2-for-6, Run), and didn't let up even after a fielder's choice put two men away. Schaumburg (20-36) starter Brad Mumma allowed five straight singles to the fifth through ninth hitters in the Joliet order to make the score 5-0 in favor of the home team. The sixth straight JackHammer safety was a big one, as LF Doc Brooks (2-for-6, 4 RBI) sent a ball just over the wall in right field . . . after recording the first out of the game earlier in the inning. The three-run home run made it 8-0 after one complete inning, and put Schaumburg in an extremely unenviable position.
In the very next inning, the Flyers changed their outlook in a big way. Against Joliet starter and Northern League All-Star David Moraga, the visitors plated seven of their own in the top of the seventh. With one out in the frame, Schaumburg put together a string of five hits, highlighted by 2B Lance Koenig's (3-for-6, 2 RBI) triple to score the first two Flyer runs. The end of the hitting stretch saw Moraga exit the game having allowed five runs, and also leaving two men on base as he departed for reliever Kenny Evoniuk.
Evoniuk walked 3B Vince Harrison (1-for-5, RBI) to load the bases, but then induced a strikeout to put two men away. That's when 1B Chris Gaskin (3-for-5, 4 RBI) put the sixth and seventh Flyer runs up on a double. The two-bagger also meant Gaskin was already halfway to a natural hitting cycle . . . in one half-inning at bat! After the inning ended on its third strikeout, seven Flyer hits had plated seven runs to make the score 8-7, cutting the Joliet lead to only one run.
The bottom of the third brought a JackHammer response. With Mumma still pitching for the visitors, a triple, double, and single plated two runs for Joliet and extended their lead to 10-7. Not ones to be outdone, the Flyers got the runs back in the very next half-inning. LF Jermaine Allensworth (4-for-5, 2 RBI) led off the top of the fourth with a walk, and CF Rob Fischer (3-for-6, RBI) singled behind him to give Schaumburg a good chance at runs. Once a Vince Harrison groundout put the runners on second and third with one out, Gaskin delivered again with a single to plate the men on base and make the score 10-9.
Then both offenses cooled for a while. Since Moraga had only pitched an inning and a third in his start, Joliet manager Wally Backman was forced to use nearly all of his bullpen at some point in the game. Meanwhile, Steve Maddock let Mumma continue through the middle innings in an effort to save his bullpen. The gamble paid off in the end, even after Mumma allowed three straight singles to lead off the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Flyers ace got an infield pop out, a strikeout, and a fly out to right field to keep the frame scoreless. Although it didn't show in his final statistics for the game, Mumma pitched very effectively after his rough first inning.
With time running out to score, the Flyers got a clutch two-out hit from their RBI leader to tie it. A walk to SS Mark Haske (1-for-6, 2 R) led things off in the eighth for Schaumburg, and a two-strike sacrifice bunt by Jermaine Allensworth put Haske on second base with one away. Rob Fischer popped out on the infield, but Harrison delivered, sending a grounder through the infield that scored Haske and tied the game at 10-10. It was Harrison's only hit of the game, but certainly one of the game's most crucial ones.
World-class defense kept that score the same in the next half-inning. With reliever Jim Popp now on the mound, a pitch to Joliet's Doc Brooks was send high and very deep into center field. Just four games into his Flyers career, Rob Fischer drifted back all the way to the wall. When he ran out of real estate, he scaled the barrier directly to the left of a 12-foot batter's eye and reached over the wall to make the catch! Brooks could only look on in disbelief as Fischer threw the ball back to the infield having saved a home run - and perhaps the game - for Schaumburg. The very next Joliet batter was NickMcIntyre, and he scalded a ball down to first base . . . only to see Chris Gaskin make a diving attempt to his right to knock it down in the infield. Gaskin picked up the ball at his knees and flipped to Popp covering first to retire the speedy middle infielder and put up two outs in the frame.
The game remained scoreless all the way until the eleventh inning, when Joliet provided the first threat in extra innings. McIntyre led off the frame with a double against Schaumburg reliever Lonnie Patterson (1-0), providing a perfect situation for a sacrifice bunt. However, Wally Backman let DH Steve Garrabrants (1-for-5) and 3B Mike Caruso (0-for-2) swing away, and Patterson got both men to pop balls up on the infield for two crucial outs. After an intentional walk to CF Cory Harris (2-for-4, RBI) to put on a force at any base, Patterson got Joliet 1B Andy Launier (1-for-6, 2 RBI) to line out weakly to Haske at shortstop, ending the danger.
Schaumburg finally broke through in the twelfth inning, just like they did on Monday night. JackHammers reliever Chad Fillinger (3-1) was in his second inning of relief and got Flyers RF Dan Maycock (0-for-6, 4 K) to strike out swinging for one out. Then a crucial error on Mike Caruso at third base allowed Lance Koenig to go all the way to second. That brought up Flyers catcher Hank Lanto (3-for-6, 2 RBI), and he did not disappoint. A double into the right-center field gap scored Koenig to give the Flyers their first lead at 11-10. After a Haske groundout, Allensworth smacked his fourth single of the game to drive in Lanto from third and put Schaumburg up 12-10. In the bottom of the twelfth, John Smith (SV 1) - who allowed Joliet to send it to extras in Monday's game - shut the door on the JackHammers, inducing a game-ending double play to seal the victory.
Schaumburg's 12 runs and 18 hits tied season highs, and the four hour, thirty-three minute ballgame was their longest (and arguably sweetest) of the season so far.
The Flyers will look to build off a dramatic victory in Kansas City against the T-Bones on Friday night. Alex Rollin (1-2) will take the mound for Schaumburg, against a T-Bones starter to be named. Don't miss a minute of the exciting action from CommunityAmerica Ballpark, beginning at 7:05 p.m. You can hear it all along with Matt Tarnawa on flyersbaseball.com.
The Schaumburg Flyers are a member of the Northern League, a 6-team Independent Professional Baseball League established in 1993. Opening Day is May 15th, 2008. For ticket information call (847) 891-BALL (2255) or visit www.flyersbaseball.com
Northern League Stories from July 18, 2008
- 'Cats upend 'Hammers - Joliet JackHammers
- Jermaine Allensworth goes 4-for-5 for the second straight night. - Schaumburg Flyers
- Five Run Ninth Propels RailCats to 10-5 Win in Joliet - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Flyers Down Bones in Opener 6-3 - Kansas City Monarchs
- RedHawks extend wining streak with victory - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Watson, Mahar Sign with Philadelphia - Kansas City Monarchs
- Flyers Win a Thriller in Joliet - Schaumburg Flyers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
