'Hammers strike late, beat Flyers
Published on August 30, 2005 under Northern League (NL)
Joliet JackHammers News Release
JOLIET, IL- The Schaumburg Flyers allowed a two-out unearned run in the bottom of the eighth and lost to the Joliet JackHammers 4-3 on Tuesday, August 30 at Alexian Field. Joliet stopped a four-game losing streak and improved to 13-30, 36-55. Schaumburg fell to 19-24 in second half play, 35-56 overall for the season. The Flyers have lost seven of their last eight games. Schaumburg has five games remaining on their regular season schedule.
At press time, South Division leader Lincoln was playing at Fargo. A Lincoln win on Tuesday would mathematically eliminate the Flyers from Northern League playoff contention. The next Flyer loss would eliminate Schaumburg.
The game was tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning when reliever Dan Jackson (2-1) came on for starter Rick DeHart. Bryan Goelz drew a one-out walk and moved up on a pivotal play as 3B Jarrod Patterson bobbled a sharply hit Chad Ehrnsberger grounder for an error. Runners were safe at first and second but Jackson struck out slugger Jayson Drobiak for the second out. The next hitter, Jose Amado, hit the first pitch softly to right center for a go-ahead RBI hit. Goelz raced around from second and scored easily as the JackHammers took a 4-3 lead.
Reliever Matt Petrusek (Save #2) retired the Flyers in order in the ninth inning to close out the game. Seth Hill (2-1) pitched four innings of relief for the victory. The Flyers lost despite outhitting Joliet 11-7. Josue Lopez went 3-for-4 at the plate in a losing cause.
The Flyers scored in the top of the first off veteran Rich Hyde, making his first appearance of 2005 after missing most of the season due to injury. Patterson doubled and scored on an RBI hit by Justin Hendrickson. DeHart allowed a two-run double to Amado in the bottom of the first and Joliet added another run in the second to build a 3-1 lead. But the Flyers rallied as Chris Weekly singled with two outs in the third to knock in Oscar Materano and Hendrickson's two-out single in the fifth off Seth Hill plated Materano again. The game was tied at 3-3 and remained there for three innings as DeHart allowed just one hit and one walk after the second inning. For the night, the left-hander allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings. He struck out five batters to raise his total to 104 for the season. The ex-major leaguer remains among the Northern League leaders in strikeouts for the season.
The Flyers were playing their first game without mainstay shortstop Geoff McCallum, now off to a tournament with Team Canada. Weekly moved over from third base to shortstop with Patterson manning the hot corner. Flyers Pitching Coach Brett Gray also joined McCallum enroute to The Netherlands for the World Cup of Baseball.
Hendrickson, Weekly and Eli Albertson had two hits apiece to back Lopez as Schaumburg.
The teams continue their series on Wednesday at 7:05 PM. Flyers LHP R.J. Swindle (5-3) will oppose JackHammers RHP Nathan Kent (3-9). Catch the webcast at flyersbaseball.com.
Northern League Stories from August 30, 2005
- Cracker-Cats slash T-bones - Edmonton Capitals
- T-Bones offense dry in Canada in 5-1 loss - Kansas City Monarchs
- RailCats fall to St. Paul; playoff hopes on hold - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Redhawks win league-record 65th game of season - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Hyde starts in 4-3 Joliet victory over Schaumburg - Joliet JackHammers
- 'Hammers strike late, beat Flyers - Joliet JackHammers
- Cracker-Cats return for final homestand - Edmonton Capitals
- RailCats Closing In on Playoff Berth - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- RailCats Lentini Wins Northern League Player of the Week Award - NL
- Two Flyers join team Canada - Schaumburg Flyers
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