Grays defeat Spirit 11-4

Published on September 4, 2005 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit News Release


Mark Burke homered twice for the Grays to compliment a strong performance on the mound from Lincoln Minks as the Grays defeated the Spirit 11-4 on Sunday in the final game of the series.

The Spirit had 2375 fans in attendance for the final game of the 2005 season. More than 110,000 fans visited the New Fraser Field during the course of the season. Although the Spirit finished the second half with a winning record, the final game of the season didn't end with a victory.

Jose Brazoban got roughed up early in his first start of the season for the Spirit. The Grays sent nine men to the plate in the first inning, and four batters came around to score. Scott Grimes led off the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single from Joe Jiannetti. With two outs in the inning, the Grays got four straight hits to push three more runs across the plate. Darren Ciraco scored Jiannetti with an RBI double and came around to score on an RBI single from Charles Peterson. Peterson moved into scoring position on a single from Angel Valdez and came around to score on a single from Larry Best.

The Grays tacked on two more runs in the second inning doing all of their damage with two outs. Jiannetti kept the inning alive with a single and Mark Burke followed with a two-run homer over the right field wall.

The Grays added three more runs in the seventh inning. After Jiannetti doubled and Ciraco was hit by a pitch, Jason Statari sent both runners home on an RBI double. Startari scored the third run of the inning on an RBI single from Best.

The Spirit offense sputtered on the day, managing just one hit through the first seven innings of play. Lincoln Minks was dazzling on the mound, keeping the Spirit batters off balance for most of the day.

The North Shore offense finally broke though with three runs in the eighth inning. With two out in the inning, B.J. Weed drew a walk to get things started. Garrett Weir and Rob Fischer singled to reach base, and Weed and Weir scored on a two-run base hit from Andy Howdeshell. After Oglesby drew a walk to load the bases, Josh Tranum drew a walk to score Fischer with the inning's final run.

The Grays answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning on another home run from Burke.

The Spirit scored one more run in the ninth inning to close out the scoring for the 2005 season. Alex Trezza led of the inning with a double and came around to score on a double play.

Before the game, the Spirit paid tribute to Vic Davilla and Yuri Sanchez. Davilla played his final game as a member of the North Shore Spirit, while Sanchez retired last month. Both were ambassadors for the Spirit organization during their tenure with the team and their contributions on the field will be missed.

Davilla was 0-2 with a walk in his final professional game, and he received a thunderous ovation from the Spirit crowd upon being lifted for a pinch runner in the seventh inning.

The Spirit finished the second half of the 2005 season with a record of 27-18.

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Canadian American League Stories from September 4, 2005


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