AA Winnipeg Goldeyes

Goldeyes Defeat Wesmen in Final Home Exhibition Game

Published on May 11, 2012 under American Association (AA)
Winnipeg Goldeyes News Release


The final score read: Winnipeg Goldeyes 14, University of Winnipeg Wesmen 0. But the score wasn't important.

What was important was the fact pitching coach Bill Pulsipher got nine innings of work from six different pitchers and manager Rick Forney got another good look at a handful of young players fighting for the few available jobs on the Goldeyes roster.

"Everybody got to play a baseball game," Forney said after the game. "The pitchers got their work and that was the most important thing. We needed to get those guys out there on the mound and they did a good job."

On the field, it was really quite unfair for a first-year Canadian university program to face an independent professional team, but the Wesmen did a nice job and certainly didn't embarrass themselves.

"They settled down after the first couple of innings and played a lot better," said Forney. "It was pretty fast for them at the start and they were kicking it around a bit. I think they were probably pretty nervous. But once they settled down, they played pretty well. It was a good time."

The Goldeyes scored two in the first, one in the third, four in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth. In the end, the Goldeyes scored 14 runs on 17 hits while the Wesmen had no runs on one hit. The only Goldeyes' pitcher to allow a hit was Anthony Friesen, the local kid from Somerset, Man.

Offensively, the Goldeyes got a two-run homer from Dan Barbero and a three run bomb from Chris Roberson. Rookie David Narodowski had two doubles and drove in four runs while Price Kendall had four hits, three runs scored and a pair of RBI.

"It was a good game to be a part of," Kendall said. "It was a good reminder of what baseball is all about. We get paid to do this, but those college kids are doing it for fun. It's a kids game and we're lucky that we get to play it as adults. And I remember, when I was a college kid, I idolized the pros, major or minor league. It was fun to be on the field with them."

Kendall has struggled at the plate before Friday night's game and was pleased that he had a chance to work on a few things.

"I had a lot of things to work on," he said with a smile. "Until tonight, I hadn't had a hit. I wanted to work on my approach at the plate, let the ball get deeper and hit it up the middle. I was swinging a lot better tonight."

Among the other highlights: Yurendell de Caster had had two hits and two RBI; Matt Cusick had a hit three walks and two runs scored; and Kyle Day had three hits and an RBI.

The Goldeyes will now get on the bus and head south. They will play pre-season games in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon and Monday night, another pre-season game on Tuesday night -- a seven-inning game starting at 8 p.m. in Kansas City -- and then the regular season starts next Friday in Amarillo.

"It's going to be quite a trip," said Kendall with a grin. "When we get back we'll either all be best friends or worst enemies. One thing's for sure, we'll know each other pretty well by the time it's over."

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