Hawks Down the Blast 2-1
Published on May 17, 2003 under Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
(BINGHAMTON, NY) -- Shaun Skrehot may not dazzle you with big numbers, but the Altoona Curve shortstop often seems to make plays that help his team win.
Such was the case Friday as he sprinted home from second on a fielder's choice in the top of the ninth to rally the Curve to a 5-4 win over Binghamton at NYSEG Stadium.
A stunned crowd of 4,671 looked on as the B-Mets failed to hold a 4-3 lead in the final inning. Three walks loaded the bases with one out for Curve clean-up man Chan Perry.
Facing Binghamton closer P.J. Bevis, Perry hit a slow chopper over the mound that was fielded by shortstop Gil Velazquez. A flip to second resulted in a force out, but David Becani's relay throw to first was not in time to retire Perry.
Brett Roneberg scored from third and Skrehot, who started the play at second base, kept running toward the plate. The dash to the dish surprised B-Mets' first baseman Craig Brazell. His throw home was late as Skrehot scored the go-ahead run.
"It's pretty nice to have him in my lineup everyday again," said Curve manager Dale Sveum. "I know what Skrehot can do. He might have some bad at-bats, but what he can do on the bases and his instincts to play the game are impeccable."
Todd Ozias made the lead stand-up by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his seventh save. Jeff Bennett (2-0) tossed two scoreless innings and was the beneficiary of the Curve comeback.
Altoona (19-19) has won five straight road games and 12 of its last 15 contests away from Blair County Ballpark. Binghamton (18-18) fell back to .500.
The B-Mets grabbed a 3-0, first-inning lead against Curve starter John Grabow. Brazell launched a two-run homer and Tony Calabrese laced an RBI single to account for the tallies.
Ronny Paulino and Grabow pulled the Curve to within a run with consecutive, two-out RBI singles in the second.
After Binghamton made it 4-2 on an RBI single by John Wilson in the third, a sacrifice fly by Perry in the fifth reduced Altoona's deficit to one and set the stage for the final-inning dramatics.
For his part, Grabow recovered from a rocky start to keep the Curve close. The lefty, displaying a sharp breaking ball, walked none and struck out six. He allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings.
"He battles through adversity early in the game," said Sveum. "He settles down and he always seems to keep you in the ballgame. He didn't have great command of his fastball, but that was the best breaking ball I've seen him have in the three years I've had him."
Skrehot, Perry, Paulino, Shawn Garrett, and Jose Castillo each had two hits to drive Altoona's 12-hit output.
Game three of the series in Binghamton is Saturday at 6 p.m. In a mound match of right-handers, the Curve's Landon Jacobsen (4-2, 1.34) will face Joey Cole (1-0, 3.95) of the B-Mets.
Eastern League Stories from May 17, 2003
- B-Mets Power Past Curve, 4-1 - Altoona Curve
- Hawks Down the Blast 2-1 - Altoona Curve
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.
