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Hawks Held to Two Hits in Game One Loss

September 9, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


South Bend, IN - The Fort Wayne TinCaps finished the regular season with a 94-46 mark, the best record in all of Minor League Baseball. In Wednesday's playoff opener, they showed one of the reasons why they were so successful, as four pitchers combined to two hit the South Bend Silver Hawks in earning a 3-1 victory and taking a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three first round.

After the game was delayed 44 minutes at the start because of rain in the South Bend area, the Silver Hawks never could quite get the bats awake. South Bend was held without a run or hit until the 8th inning, and fell for the 17th time in 21 games against Fort Wayne in 2009.

Eric Smith (LP, 0-1) started for South Bend and had some trouble shaking off the nerves early. Smith loaded the bases on two walks and a single before recording an out in the top of the first inning. After a visit from pitching coach Erik Sabel, Smith got a ground ball double play and a fly out to end the inning, with only one of the three base runners scoring. However, that lone run was enough to pin a tough loss on Smith, who turned in 6.0 innings of one run ball in his first professional postseason start.

Fort Wayne starter Simon Castro (WP, 1-0) was on top of his game from the beginning. Castro didn't allow a hit over his 6.2 innings, keeping the Hawks scoreless. South Bend's best threat came in the bottom of the seventh, when Castro walked Ryan Wheeler and Justin Parker with two outs. Nick Schumacher (ND) relieved Castro, but hit Rossmel Perez went a 1-2 pitch to load the bases. However, Clayton Conner struck out to end the Hawks rally.

With the momentum still on their side, Fort Wayne tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the eighth against Bryan Woodall (ND). Jaff Decker and Vince Belnome had back-to-back singles, and Cole Figueroa elected to sacrifice the runners along. Woodall fielded the bunt, but threw wildly down the first base line, allowing Decker to score for the 2-0 lead. Yefri Carvajal then bounced a single into left, making it a 3-0 TinCaps advantage.

The Silver Hawks finally broke through with their first hits and their only run in the bottom of the eighth against Zach Herr (ND). With two outs, A.J. Pollock walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Reynaldo Navarro broke up the no-hitter with a sharp single to center, scoring Pollock to bring the Hawks within two. Alfredo Marte then singled, putting the tying run on base, but Wheeler struck out to end the threat.

Brad Brach (SV, 1) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two to earn his first save of the postseason.

Game two of the best-of-three series is Thursday night at Fort Wayne's Parkview Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM Eastern Time. LHP Keny Sosa (2-3, 2.19 ERA in regular season) will start for South Bend against Fort Wayne's RHP Erik Davis (16-6, 3.64 ERA in regular season). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 PM Eastern Time on 1620 ESPN Radio and online at www.silverhawks.com.



Midwest League Stories from September 9, 2009


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